258 



CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME 



South Fork of the Tuolumne River, I found four large bucks, all four- 

 pointers, that were feeding together in a close band. Numerous fresh 

 scars on the smooth-barked limbs of manzanita bushes in the vicinity 

 indicated that these bucks had been sharpening and polishing their 

 antlers there only a few days previously. I followed these old leaders 

 of the deer herd about through the snow for some time and was sur- 

 prised to find that they were entirely friendly and not at all antag- 

 onistic toward each other. 



A similar incident was noted by the writer in the Giant Forest 

 in Sequoia National Park January 24, 1924, when two large bucks, a 

 three-pointer and a four-pointer, were watched feeding amicably 

 together. In this instance there was conclusive evidence that in this 

 region some fighting among bucks had taken place as late as the middle 



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Fig. 97. When biting ticks on each others' heads these big California mule deer 

 buclts were especially careful to avoid striking their tender growing antlers. Yosemite, 

 July 19, 1929. Wild Life Division No. 163. 



of January. However, fighting appears to cease even before the bucks' 

 antlers are dropped. After the antlers are shed there are frequently 

 decided demonstrations of friendliness among bucks. On February 8, 

 1930, in Yosemite Valley, I watched a pair of old bucks that recently 

 had shed their antlers, as they stood busily engaged in biting wood- 

 ticks on each other's necks (see Fig. 96). This friendliness continues 

 among the larger bucks during late spring and summer after their 

 antlers are well developed and nearly grown. On July 15, 1929, I 

 found four of the larger bucks in Yosemite Valley banded together. 

 Two of these bucks spent a great deal of time in biting ticks on each 

 other's necks. By this date their antlers were well grown, having 



