OP A RANCHMAN 245 



been no disturbance from man or other 

 foes, feeding among the scattered scrub 

 cedars. skirting the thicket in which he in- 



*i to make his bed for the day. Having 

 made his bed he crouches very close in 

 it, and is difficult to put up during the heat 

 of the day ; but as the afternoon wears on 

 he becomes more restless, and will break 

 from his bed and bound off at much smaller 

 provocation, while if the place is lonely he 

 will wander out into the open hours before 

 sunset. If, however, he is in much danger 

 of being molested, he will keep close to his 

 hiding-place until nearly nightfall, when he 

 ventures out to feed. Owing to the lau 

 of his evening appearance in localities 

 where there is much hunting, it is a safer 

 plan to follow him in the early morning, be- 

 ing on the ground and ready to start out by 

 the time the first streak of dawn appears. 



n I have lost deer when riding home in 

 the evening, because the dusk liad deepened 

 so that it was impossible to distinguish 

 clearlv enough to shoot. 



