THE MULE-DEER 231 



harder to get the mule-deer than it was to get the white 

 goats, for the latter were infinitely more conspicuous, 

 were slower in their movements, and bolder and less shy. 

 Almost the only way we succeeded in killing the deer 

 was by finding one of their well-trodden paths and lying 

 in wait beside it very early in the morning or quite late 

 in the afternoon. The season was August and September, 

 and the deer were astir long before sunset. They usually, 

 but not always, lay high up on the mountain-sides, and 

 while they sometimes wandered to and fro browsing on 

 the mountains, they often came down to feed in the val- 

 leys, where the berries were thicker. Their paths were 

 well beaten, although, like all game trails, after being 

 as plainly marked as a pony track for a quarter of a 

 mile or so, they would suddenly grow faint and vanish. 

 The paths ran nearly straight up and down hill, and even 

 when entirely undisturbed, the deer often came down 

 them at a great rate, bouncing along in a way that showed 

 that they had no fear of developing the sprung knees 

 which we should fear for a domestic animal which habit- 

 ually tried the same experiment. 



In other habits also the deer vary widely in different 

 localities. For instance, there is an absolute contrast as 

 regards their migratory habits between the mule-deer 

 which live in the Bad Lands along the Little Missouri, 

 and those which live in northwestern Colorado; and this 

 difference is characteristic generally of the deer which 

 in the summer dwell in the high mountains, as contrasted 

 with those which bear and rear their young in the low, 

 broken hill-country. Along the Little Missouri there 



