246 



CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME 



willow. This incident suggests that saplings that are regularly 

 "horned" by a number of different bucks, as I have found frequently 

 to be the case, may serve as "intelligence posts," just as certain "bear 

 trees" are selected and bitten, rubbed and scratched by bears. 



ADULT BUCKS WITH SPIKE ANTLERS 



Hunters have reported the killing at rare intervals of old bucks 

 that have carried spike antlers. That the antlers of such old bucks do 

 revert to single spikes has been questioned by certain authors. Caton, 

 in his excellent book on the antelope and deer of America, states (p. 

 232) : "We have no well authenticated, reliable observations to justify 

 the conclusions that these [large] spike antlers are ever grown upon 



■»» .r«*^s&w*«^*^^'" 



Fig. 88. A California mule deer buck horning a willow. Mule deer continue 

 to polish their antlers long after the velvet is off. Yosemlte, December 10, 1927. 

 Mus. Vert. Zool. No. 5624. 



adult animals. All we have on the subject is a sort of general con- 

 jecture, founded no doubt upon exceptional cases." 



The best concrete evidence that I have been able to secure on this 

 point is as follows: On January 31, 1929, I found an old buck in 

 Yosemite Valley that carried a tall, four-point antler on the right side 

 of his head, while his left antler was a straight spike one inch in diam- 

 eter and ten inches in length (see Fig. 89). A good check was obtained 

 on the length of the spike, which was fully two inches longer than his 

 ear. This buck had received an injury to his left hip, so that he walked 

 with an unusual weaving motion. The injury appeared to have been 

 done by the antlers of some large buck. This may have been the reason 



