go 



RED DEER. 



taken up their residence, and have so in- 

 creased that at last the damage they have 

 done has led to efforts being made to force 

 them out. Besides the injury to the adja- 

 cent crops, where so many deer are gathered 

 in one place, the stags destroy the young firs 

 in the plantations. Rubbing their heads 

 against the young trees to wear off the 

 velvet, their antlers not only bark the trees 

 but splinter the branches. The saplings are 

 thus completely broken to pieces, and of 

 course will not grow. The gamekeepers 

 have deerhounds to hunt them out of the 

 covers, and yet even with these they find it 

 impossible to drive the deer away. Blank 

 cartridges will have to be used ; perhaps even 

 that will not be effectual. The persistence 

 with which the deer keep in these great 

 woods is inimical to the interests of the hunt. 

 When a meet takes place the stag will 

 not break cover, and hours are lost while 

 he runs to and fro in the wood. So many 

 stags herding together make it difficult 



