CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME 



245 



Inspection at close range of tame bucks observed in the act of remov- 

 ing the velvet shows that there is normally a wet, vascular, bloody film 

 between the velvet and the hard bony surface of the antler which serves 

 much in the same way that the freshly flowing spring sap of a willow 

 permits the ready separation of the bruised bark from the wood. 

 However, in cases where the buck is sickly or poorly nourished, the 

 velvet dries down and adheres tightly to the antlers, so that it is very 

 difficult for the buck to scrape it off. 



In selecting a ''rubbing post" upon which to remove velvet and 

 to polish their antlers, bucks show a decided preference for straight, 

 upright saplings of smooth-barked willow, wild plum, or wild cherry. 

 Small saplings between two and three inches in diameter are most 

 frequently chosen (see Fig. 88). On January 30, 1929, in Yosemite, I 

 found many wild plum saplings that had been "horned" by bucks so 

 that the bark had been removed 

 and bare white patches two 

 inches wide and 18 inches long 

 resulted. These "barked" areas 

 were nearly always within 

 three feet of the ground. Many 

 of these "barked" areas showed 

 grooves cut into the wood. 

 Such grooves have been mis- 

 taken for toothmarks by some 

 people, but close inspection 

 showed that the indentations 

 had been made by the sharp 

 round-pointed eyeguards and 

 tines of the deer rather than 

 by his relatively wide, flat, 

 chisel-like lower incisor teeth. 

 Furthermore, in nearly every 

 instance, the shreds of wood and 

 pieces of bark that had been 

 raked off or gouged out by the 

 antlers were found lying dried 

 up on the ground at the base of 

 the barked saplings, thus com- 

 pleting the evidence. 



Bucks continue to polish their antlers long after the last bits of 

 velvet have been removed. In fact, they "horn" certain saplings as long 

 as they retain their antlers. On December 10, 1927, in Yosemite, I 

 photographed a buck in the act of vigorously "horning" a bush (see 

 Fig. 88). On the evening of December 13, I watched a three-point 

 buck "horn" a willow sapling, stripping all of the bark off one side of 

 the sapling for a distance of 26 inches. After the smaller buck had been 

 working on the willow for a period of four minutes, a large four-point 

 buck came along and chased him away and began to "horn" the same 

 willow. 



The larger buck stopped three different times and smelted the spot 

 where the other buck had been rubbing the base of his antlers on the 



Fig. 87. Buck shown (see Fig. 86), 

 but two days later with velvet dried up. 

 Yosemite, September 17, 1927. Mus. Vert. 

 Zool. No. 5485. 



5—12731 



