82 HOOFED ANIMALS 



osity and stare at the hunter for that fatal ten seconds which 

 so often ends with a ringing "bang" and a fatal bullet. 



But not so the White-Tail. Time after time the trailing 

 still-hunter, stealing forward ever so cautiously, sees ahead 

 of him and far beyond fair rifle shot a sudden flash of white, 

 a pillar of cloud swaying from side to side between the tree- 

 trunks, and the vanishing point of a scurrying White-Tail. 

 This creature knows right well that as a discourager of cer- 

 vine curiosity nothing in the world equals a breech-loading 

 rifle. When he hears behind him a rustle of dry leaves or 

 the snap of a twig, nothing else is so dear to him as space, 

 judiciously distributed between himself and his pursuer. I 

 have sometimes made so bold as to consider myself a fairly 

 good deer-stalker; but I have still-hunted White-Tailed Deer 

 in November, on dry leaves and without snow, when for days 

 and days together I found it utterly impossible to come within 

 fair rifle shot of a buck worth having. At such times a light 

 snow means a fair chance, and properly evens up the game. 



During the summer, while the antlers are in the velvet, 

 the coat of this species is short, thin and of a bright sandy 

 color often called "red." In Canada the Virginia Deer is 

 frequently called the "Red Deer"; but this is a mischievous 

 misnomer, for its use always suggests the red deer of Europe. 

 The red coat is worn about three months, say from May 1 

 to August 1, and then it rapidly gives place to the beautiful 

 mottled brown-gray suit, so long and thick that the owner 

 looks like quite a different creature, and is fitted to withstand 

 the severest winter weather. 



The White-Tailed Deer is one of the most persistent 



