THE COLUMBIA BLACK-TAILED DEER. 119 



is a well -known fact that at this season of the year they 

 seem to lose almost all sense of fear, hardly noticing even a 

 hunter when they meet him, or, if they should do so, 

 plainly showing that they would almost as soon fight as 

 flee. During this season, the bucks have terrific combats 

 among themselves, during which they sometimes get their 

 horns interlocked, in which case both animals perish 

 miserably. 



The venison of a buck during the rutting-season is 

 tough, and has a strong, disagreeable flavor. After the 

 buck has won for himself a mate, the two animals may be 

 found together until the fawns are born, which event 

 occurs during the following spring. A doe of this species 

 generally has two, but sometimes three, most beautifully 

 spotted fawns. The spots are almost white, and remain on 

 the young animals until they are about five months old. 



The buck takes but little interest in the welfare of his 

 offspring, but the doe is a devoted mother. When sur- 

 prised in company with her fawns, there is a general 

 scattering, but it will not be long before the mother will be 

 seen timidly returning, to find out how her young are 

 faring. The hunter who takes advantage of the mother's 

 devotion must be hungry indeed, or else possessed of 

 an inhuman desire to slaughter. The killing of spotted 

 fawns is forbidden by the laws of most States, but this does 

 not prevent the killing of a great many of them by Wild- 

 cats, Panthers, Wolves, and other beasts of prey. 



In mountainous countries, where the snow falls to a 

 great depth during the winter, the Black-tailed Deer form 

 yards, as do the Elk and Moose. This term applies to a 

 tract of country which is selected by the animals on 

 account of the abundance of food, in the form of deciduous 

 trees, mosses, and lichens, that is to be found there, and 

 in which a large number of Deer make their headquarters 

 during the entire winter. 



It is in such a place, and under such circumstances, that 

 the ruthless Indian gets in his deadly work. In the Bitter 

 Root and Coeur d'Alene Mountains, where Indians are 



