CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME 329 



The following table has been selected as showing typical food prefer- 

 ences of California mnle deer in September. 



TABLE B 



Food Preferences of California Mule Deer, Yosemite, September 13-18, 1927 



Determined by actual observation of deer eating each plant. 



Total 



No. of deer seen deer 



Plant and scientific name eating this plant minutes 



Deer hrash, Cea^iothus integerrimus 5 does 150 



\elvet grass, Notholcus lanatus 20 bucks, does, 



many fawns 95 



Dragon sagewort, Artemisia dracunculus 20 bucks, does 90 



CRlitomia. hlaek oak, Quercus kelloffgii 6 does, fawns 90 



Western golden rod, SoUdago occidentalis 15 bucks, does 60 



Tuuible-weed, Amaranthiis yraecizans 4 does 60 



California mugwort, Artemisia heterophylla 8 bucks, does 55 



Common golden rod, Solidago calif ornica 10 bucks, does 30 



Lessingia, Lessingia leptoclada 5 does 30 



Western choke cherry, PrMWMS rfemissai 3 does 30 



(Wire) buckwheat, Eriogonum virgatum 4 does 20 



(Slender) buckwheat, Eriogonum nudum 3 does 16 



Creek dogwood, Corniis c. californica 2 does 10 



Milkweed, Asclepias cordifoUa 2 does, buck 10 



Horseweed, Erigeron canadensis : 1 fawn 10 



Common brake, Pteris aquilina 2 bucks 5 



Curly dock, Rumex crispus 1 doe 5 



Mountain hemp, Apocynum androsaemifoUum 2 2 



Canyon live oak, Querctis chrysolepis 1 buck 2 



Gooseberry, Ribes roezHi 1 doe 2 



Meadow fescue, Festuca elatior 5 fawns 



Total deer watched 120 



Total actual grazing time (deer minutes) 850 



ri\ 



In the Lassen section, at 6600 feet on Warner Creek in Shasta 

 County, on September 24, 1923, I found that nearly all of the Rocky 

 Mountain mule deer were feeding on currant bushes which grew 

 abundantly on rocky talus slopes. Earlier in the season these currant 

 bushes had been little eaten by the deer but as soon as the leaves began 

 to turn yellow in the fall, then they were eagerly sought for and 

 devoured in great quantities. At this same date mule deer in the 

 Lassen Peak region were starting to browse heavily on snow brush and 

 huckleberry oak. One large buck, killed by a local hunter, had his 

 stomach nearly full of finely-chewed huckleberry oak leaves. In the 

 late fall at Eagle Lake, Lassen County, considerable tobacco brush is 

 eaten by Rocky Mountain mule deer. 



On October 7, 1924, five miles north of Fredonyer Peak in Lassen 

 County, I followed a large Rocky Mountain mule deer buck for several 

 hours as he leisurely fed in early morning across a sage-covered flat. He 

 had browsed along eating the leaves of antelope brush in preference to 

 all other forage, with mountain mahogany second choice. On October 

 15, 1924, at Observation Peak, in extreme eastern Lassen County I found 

 that mule deer were feeding almost entirelj^ on mountain mahogany 

 which grew abundantly there. On the California-Nevada State line 

 north of Observation Peak, I found that antelope brush (Purshia) 



