CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME 



205 



looking directly at the flashlight, their eyes had a curious reddish glow, 

 but only the clear white light was to be seen when they looked directly 

 at me. I was able to detect the ''eye shine" in deer, and by means of 

 that to pick them out of a tangled mass of willows where it would have 

 been impossible otherwise to have detected the animals in their natural 

 surroundings. 



VOICE 



I have heard deer call many times, but I have been unable thus 

 far to detect any specific difference in voice between the various geo- 

 graphic races of mule deer in California. Although not frequently 

 heard, the mule deer in the wild has a distinct voice which is used 

 both by bucks in the heat of battle and by the doe in calling her young. 

 When in mortal pain or terror a buck, a doe, or a fawn will often utter 



Fig. 63. California mule deer doe and her young in hiding place in tall grass. 

 Tosemite, July 10, 1928. Mus. Vert. Zool. No. 5748. 



an agonized bleat which reminds one of the death cry of a stricken 

 rabbit. 



In Yosemite Valley on January 30, 1929, I witnessed, at a distance 

 of fifty feet, a prolonged fight between two large four-point bucks. 

 This battle waged back and forth over the meadow until the weaker 

 buck was driven back into a ditch and forced down upon his knees. 

 When thus pinned down and helpless, he uttered a hoarse bawl which 

 was almost a moan. Apparently this was his w^ay of saying "I've had 

 enough," for the other buck immediately let him up, and the fight 

 stopped at once. 



During the mating season a buck will sometimes use his voice to 

 frighten a competing buck away from a coveted doe. On December 6, 



