46 Deer Breeding for Fine Heads 



I have not been able to breed many points with sika ; the normal 

 full-sized head being almost always eight points, although sometimes 

 a very small additional point makes a nine-pointer. One ought to be 

 able by selecting a very small red deer stag to form a cross with the 

 sika (if they will breed together, which I have been told they will, 

 although I cannot say so from my own experience), and then trying to 

 breed out the red deer type, with the exception of the number of 

 points. By this means we might get a sika which should have as 

 many points as a red deer and ultimately develop a " royal" head. 



This would make a very pretty breed for a park not big enough to 

 carry red deer. 



In the case of all sorts of deer which have spots in the summer it 

 is very difficult in winter the usual time to shoot off deer to dis- 

 tinguish those which are of the fully spotted type from those with few 

 spots, all the deer of temperate climates losing most of their spots (if 

 they have any) when in their winter coats. It is, therefore, safer to 

 kill off the colours one does not want in the middle of summer, 

 when it is easy to decide to which type the deer belongs. 



