96 



YOSEMITE NATURE NOTES 



Museum of Vertebrate Zoology 



DOE WITH NEWBORN TWIN FAWNS 



EVEN-TOED, HOOFED MAMMALS — Artiodactyls 



A delight to the visitor in Yosemite are 

 the "tame" deer. These animals are not 

 domesticated; they are merely unafraid 

 of man. 



This concentration of deer in the val- 

 ley is attributed to "handouts" provided 

 by the increasing number of visitors in 

 the past 3 5 years. This has probably led 

 the animals to give up the habit of leav- 

 ing the Valley for the regular wintering 

 grounds each year. Association of humans 



with food, together with no hunting, 

 accounts for the misleading appearance 

 of tameness. 



Until about 1915, deer did not winter 

 in the Valley, but moved out to the west- 

 ern feeding grounds below the park line 

 just as deer from the "wilder" parts of 

 the park now do. 



Yosemite National Park is a meeting 

 ground for three subspecies — the Rocky 

 Mountain mule, California mule, and 



Columbian 

 Black-tailed Deer 



J Rocky Mountain 

 Deer 



California 

 Mule Deer 



Tails of Yosemite forms of deer. 



