98 THE DEER FAMILY 



California, and from Canada to Mexico. It prefers, 

 wherever found, a rough country — the hills, buttes, 

 bad lands, and mountains. Where this deer and the 

 white-tail are found associated, the latter will be seen 

 in the valleys of streams and rivers, and the former 

 higher up. Roosevelt says that although the mule-deer 

 and white-tail are found often side by side, the two do 

 not actually associate together, and their propinquity 

 is due simply to the fact that, the river-bottoms being 

 a favorite haunt of the white-tail, long tongues of the 

 distribution area of this species are thrust into the do- 

 main of its bolder, less stealthy, and less crafty kins- 

 man. The same writer is of the opinion that the mule- 

 deer does not hold its own as well as the white-tail. 

 Caton found it difficult to raise the mule-deer in his 

 park in Illinois, and it is not so suitable for parks and 

 preserves in the Mississippi Valley, or to the eastward, 

 as the common variety. 



Since it is easier to stalk and kill the mule-deer than 

 the Virginia deer, by reason of its inhabiting rough, 

 hilly country, and being often seen in the open, it has 

 disappeared more rapidly in many localities, and every- 

 where has retreated before civilization, going into the 

 mountains or deep forests. Roosevelt expressed the 

 opinion, a few years ago, that the range of this deer had 

 not decreased much, but that the number in the area 

 had decreased sadly in places and almost everywhere. 

 Of course, as this decrease proceeds to extermination, 

 the area where this magnificent animal is found grows 

 smaller. The only salvation of the mule-deer is to be 

 found in National and State parks and preserves, 

 where the overflow may be relied upon to supply the 



