DEER. 23 



fell off. With advancing spring these knobs commence to grow, feel 

 warm to the touch, and sprout out, as it were, round the scar. One 

 branch takes a forward direction, whilst a second and larger one 

 makes its way backward. These become in the fully-formed antler 

 the. brow-antler and the main beam. As long as the antler, which 

 is composed of genuine bone of very dense texture, is increasing 

 in size it is covered with the same warm, black skin as is the 

 knob from which it sprang, and as this skin is covered with short, 

 tii:.', close-set hair it has received the name of the "velvet." It 

 is this velvet which secretes the bony texture of the antler from 

 its inner surface; therefore any mishap to it injures the growth 

 of the antler in the part affected. The animals, therefore, during 

 the time they are " in velvet " are more than usually careful to 

 protect their heads, and are inoffensive even to strangers. When 

 the antlers have ceased to grow, the velvet dries up, and the deer 

 rub their horns against any neighbouring trees and force them 

 into the soft earth until the membrane is quite rubbed off. Up 

 to this time they have lived a kind of solitary existence, but now 

 they go forth in their full vigour, seek out their future mates, 

 and fight any other stags which dare to dispute their ascendancy. 



The desire to stock the mountain country of New Zealand with 

 large game, so that the Briton's delight in going out to kill some- 

 thing might be satisfied, has led to the introduction' of no fewer 

 than nine kinds of deer, in addition to other large animals. Of 

 these, four species fallow deer, red deer, sambur deer, and white- 

 tailed deer have established themselves in different parts of the 

 country, and are included among the animals to shoot which 

 licenses are now issued. By law they are strictly preserved, but 

 much poaching has always been and still is done. At the same time, 

 it must be remembered that the poaching is chiefly done by two classes 

 of people namely, by residents in the neighbourhood of the districts 

 where the game abound, and by mere pot-hunters. For the first class 

 it may be said that many farmers, who take no special interest in 

 acclimatization work or in so-called " sport," who were not con- 

 sulted in any way on the subject, and who probably object to seeing 

 the undesirable game laws of the Old Country being reintro- 

 duced here for the sake of a few wealthy people who are willing 

 to pay a price for the privilege of killing deer, naturally resent 

 the incursions of animals which ignore or break down their 



