THE SMALL NEIGHBORS OF BIG GAME 315 



and they will walk around it for days without daring to 

 eat a mouthful. 



The Mule Deer is yet found in southeastern British 

 Columbia, but it is no longer numerous. Its delicious 

 venison has brought upon it the rifles of all hunters and 

 trappers, and we found it quite as scarce as mountain 

 sheep. I think our party saw a total of twelve head; but 

 we killed only one. In October and November the snows 

 drive the deer down from the mountains into the valleys 

 of such streams as the Elk River, where the hunters find 

 them rather easy prey. 



We saw no White-Tailed Deer; but there are in that 

 corner of British Columbia a few representatives of that 

 species. 



Farther west, in the lower valley of the Fraser River, 

 the Columbian Black-Tailed Deer * is abundant, but I 

 believe none are found in the Fernie district. 



In 1901 a Moose was killed in the Elk Valley, near 

 the Sulphur Spring, by Mr. Charles L. Smith, but since 

 that time no other Moose have visited that region. 



Of bird life we saw much less than I expected, for I 

 had thought that the late-ripening berries of the sum- 

 mits would attract and hold a goodly number of the more 

 venturesome birds. But the berries had no effect what- 

 ever upon bird life, and throughout the entire trip, I did 

 not see even one migratory bird which was lingering to 

 feed upon them. Even as early as September i, nearly 

 all the migratory birds had vanished. My bird notes 



* 0-do-coil 'e-us columbianus. 



