18 THE MAMMALS OF THE WOODS 



can reach the ground with their feet : but if, after thawing, it begins to freeze 

 again, they cannot reach the ground, the twigs are covered with a crust of ice, and 

 the feeding-places are their only refuge. During the winter months roe-deer are 

 silent ; but if the cold be severe, and the snow deep, the call of the young which 

 cannot follow the others will now and then be heard. 



Among the enemies of the roe-deer on the Continent, the bear, the wolf, and 

 the lynx are the most dangerous ; but in many districts the fox is their worst enemy, 

 slinking about day and night in the forest, watching for a favourable moment 

 for seizing some unprotected fawn. If the fawn be strong enough to escape, 

 the fox chases it as a dog would in order to snap at its legs, and throw it down. 

 Foxes will also follow the old or sick, especially in winter in deep snow, and 

 when the snow is frozen on top. By breaking through the icy crust, roebuck 

 often cut their legs, and leave a track of blood ; nor can they then move so fast 

 as usual. The snow will, however, bear the fox, which, in most cases, can 

 only bring down the younger ones, as the old bucks and does are able to defend 

 themselves with their hoofs. A fox will often follow a wounded roe, and if it be 

 alive but dying, will finish it off by tearing open the arteries of the neck ; but, if 

 already dead, the fox commences to devour it at once, beginning where the bullet 

 has entered. 



The wild cat, which is still not uncommon in some parts of the Continent, 

 where it lives among rocky caverns and clefts in the cliffs, as well as in rugged 

 hills and forests abounding in deer, is another dangerous enemy to roe-fawns. 

 Cunning, clever, and extremely daring, the cat knows much better than the fox 

 how to take advantage of the country. So soon as the mother starts feeding a 

 short distance away, the wild cat pounces on the fawn, snatches it up, and, before 

 the doe returns, is far away with its prey ; seizing and killing the little fawn so 

 quickly as to give it no time to cry for help. The pine-mai-ten, the polecat, and 

 even the stoat are also enemies of these fawns. Of the birds-of-prey of central 

 Europe, only the owl is dangerous to these deer, but in the high mountains, and 

 in Asia and elsewhere, eagles are formidable foes. 



An enemy against which the roe is powerless are certain flies which attack 

 it so severely that death not unfrequently results. The larvae of these flies are 

 parasitic either in the mucous membrane of the nose or under the skin on the 

 back. In the mucous membrane lives also the pupa of another fly, (Estrus stimu- 

 lator, and under the skin that of a gad-fly, Hypoderma diana. Another parasite is 

 the stag-louse, Lipoptera cervi, while another tick, Ixodes reticularis, penetrates 

 the skin and sucks the blood. Among the internal parasites is Tcenia coznurus, one 

 of the tape-worms, which establishes itself in the brain, in the same manner as in 

 a sheep's brain, where it generally causes an attack of " gid." The thread-shaped 

 palisade-worm, Strongylus filaria, attacks their lungs, and the liver-fluke, Distoma 

 hepaticum, the liver. Among the ailments caused by microbes, the most frequent 

 are tubercle and rinderpest, and there have been a few instances of disease of 

 the spleen. 



On account of their graceful and dainty ways, roe-deer have been kept as 

 pets since very ancient times. A young roe-fawn, when caught, soon gets 

 accustomed to its surroundings, to people, and to other animals. It^plays with the 



