DAMAGE CAUSED BY ANIMALS. 97 



want of a sufficiency of nourishment and satisfaction of the craving 

 for fodder ; but with regard to the summer-stripping, it is probably 

 due to the daintiness of the deer in quest of either the sugar or 

 the tannic properties contained in the rind, although perhaps it 

 may be merely a continuation of the method of nourishment 

 practised during the winter, or arising simply from wantonness, 

 and occasional stripping, developing into an easily acquired 

 habit, imitated by the other animals forming the herd. 



In his very thorough investigations into this matter, Eeuss comes 

 to the conclusion that the present modern method of Forestry in 

 Germany, leading to the formation of densely canopied, equal-aged 

 crops in deer-parks, throughout which the softwoods and shrubs 

 become more and more suppressed, tends to an artificial and 

 altogether unnatural method of rearing large game, for bark- 

 stripping seldom occurs unless the deer be confined within a ring 

 fence, that the usual monotonous feeding with hay is the^a 

 principal cause of their stripping the bark, in order to provide 

 themselves with the tannic acid necessary to stimulate the secre- 

 tion of certain requisites (e.g., for the formation of antlers and the 

 process of digestion), and that from the feeding-trough to the peel- 

 ing of bark has almost become a natural movement. 



The consequences of the damage done, which often extends to the 

 I majority of the dominating poles throughout the crop, consist in 

 i the diminished increment of the damaged individual stems, and 

 ! the rotting of the wood at the parts stripped. The rot often con- 

 tinues far up into the stem, and later on leads to breakage of the 

 i stems, whilst still young, from accumulations of snow or ice, or 

 j from violent winds after they have approached nearer to maturity. 

 At the same time the lower and otherwise more valuable portion 

 i of the stem is rendered useless for technical purposes, often to the 

 I height of 15 to 20 feet, and this of course necessitates a consider- 

 |able loss in the outturn from such woods. 



The extent to which damage may take place, and the danger of 

 incurring it, depend in the first instance on the species of trees 

 forming the crop. The trees specially liable to be barked are Spruce, 

 Beech, Silver Fir, Weymouth Pine, and Oak, whilst Larch, Ash, 

 Elm, Maple, and Sycamore are less exposed to danger, and Scots 

 Pine, Birch, and Alder least of all. The younger poles with 

 smoother rind are invariably preferred for stripping, and the 

 danger ends with the commencement of the formation of thick 



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