CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME 



221 



On December 9, 1927, I watched a mnle deer fawn, not over six months 

 old, that had been recently bereft of his mother and had been thrown 

 entirely upon his own resources. This fawn was rooting about in the 

 six inches of freshly fallen, loose, dry, fluffy snow (see Fig. 74) in search 

 of fallen leaves and acorns of the black oak. There is a possibility 

 that this fawn was assisted in a slight degree by the sense of touch in 

 locating the acorns, but from repeated observations made at a distance 

 of not more than ten feet, I am satisfied that he depended entirely upon 

 the sense of smell to locate the desired oak leaves from amid a large 

 number of dried leaves of other species, among which the oak leaves were 

 thoroughly mixed. 



Fig. 74. In winter, mule deer depend considerably on tile sense of smell in 

 locating- snow covered food, such as acorns and leaves which they secure by root- 

 ing about in loose snow. Yosemite, December 9, 1927. Mus. Vert. Zool. No. 5655. 



I followed another weaned fawn about for a number of hours on 

 this same date. The day previous the ground had been warmed and 

 clothed, particularly under the trees, with a carpet of green, sprouting, 

 annual wild oats and other grasses. This was the first real blanket 

 of snow that this fawn had ever seen in his life, and he was apparently 

 at a loss to account for the sudden disappearance of the green grass 

 upon which he had been accustomed to feed. As I followed this fawn 

 about, I found that he depended primarily upon the sense of smell in 

 his effort to locate food. Any twigs or other likely looking object that 

 might possibly furnish a meal were immediately approached and sub- 

 jected to a test through the sense of smell. 



On numerous occasions in the fall when the acorns were dropping, I 

 have watched mule deer standing under oak trees waiting for acorns 

 to fall. As soon as the waiting deer heard an acorn hit the bed of dry 



