CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME 229 



there has been a noticeable migration of deer from the floor of the 

 Valley to lower, more open hillsides." Regarding available food, Har- 

 well states : * ' Hundreds of our black oaks, too heavily laden with snow, 

 were badly broken. Many of the limbs and branches broken down were 

 covered with mistletoe. This furnished deer with a new and much 

 relished food supply. Also boughs of all trees heavily laden with snow 

 were pushed down within easy reach of these browsing animals. ' ' 



Regarding actual attacks of predators, Harwell states: "On Febru- 

 ary 2, electricians Sam Cookson and Joe Gann, while driving up the 

 highway, one mile east of Arch Rock Ranger Station, at 3 o'clock in 

 the afternoon, saw a full grown doe jump from a 20-foot bank to the 

 soft snow at the side of the highway with a wildcat at her throat. They 

 brought their car to a stop within 20 feet of the two animals * * * 

 grabbed shovels from their car and hui'ried to the rescue. * * * 

 The doe was striking the cat sharply with her fore feet. The men 

 observed that the cat had his teeth deeply imbedded in the throat of 

 the deer. Blood was streaming from the wound. When Cookson and 

 Gann got wdthin a few feet, the cat loosened his hold and made an 

 attempt to escape by scaling the bank. The deer trotted on down the 

 road out of sight. The soft snow coupled with the steepness of the 

 bank proved too much for the cat. When he saw he was cornered he 

 turned on the men. A blow on the side of the head from a shovel 

 quickly dispatched him. The wildcat was a male weighing 12 pounds, 

 and is now a scientific specimen at the Yosemite Museum. ' ' 



The fall migration of mule deer in California precedes the actual 

 mating season, and in like manner the spring migration back to the 

 summer range in the mountains is well in advance of the period when 

 the fawns are born. The fall migration is often hurried, and when 

 fall snow storms break suddenly, the migration of the mule deer may 

 become almost a stampede to lower levels that are free of snow. Con- 

 trasting with this, the spring migration from the foothills to the higher 

 summer range in the mountains is taken more leisurely. At the lower 

 levels, deer begin their upward or spring migration as soon as the 

 ground is free from snow, but at the higher levels, from 6500 feet up 

 to 10,500 feet, progress is much slower, and deer do not seek these 

 higher sections as soon as the snow is gone, but wait until the green 

 spring vegetation has gained a good start. 



On June 17, 1933, in ascending Alta Peak in Sequoia National 

 Park, I found that a few bucks had reached 9000 feet altitude. On June 

 30, fresh deer tracks were found up to 10,000 feet on Silliman Crest 

 near Twin Peaks. On July 4, I found deer had reached an altitude of 

 10,500 feet on the southwest slopes of Twin Peaks even in places where 

 snow banks still lay several feet thick. 



I believe that the spring migration parallels new spring plant 

 growth. It is obvious that both plant development and deer migra- 

 tion vary from season to season ; however, the following figures may be 

 taken as average dates of spring arrival of mule deer on the west slope 

 of the central Sierra Nevada: 



4,000 feet, March 10. 7,500 feet, June 5. 



5,000 feet, April 10. 9,000 feet, July 5. 



6,000 feet, May 5. 10,000 feet, August 5. 



4—12731 



