CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME 335 



snow brush (Ceanothus cordulatus) that grew on a warm, sunny slope 

 high on a warm ridge. There was a dense thicket of bitter cherry grow- 

 ing just below the snow brush but the deer, two big bucks, two does 

 and three fawns, were all browsing on the leaves and twigs of snow 

 brush. In a meadow nearby the mule deer were eating large quantities 

 of dead, soggy Carex stalks. These deer had used this sedge only at 

 rare intervals while it was green and growing, but in the fall after the 

 sedge had become dry and frosted and then soaked up for several weeks 

 by rain and snow until it had become soft like ensilage the deer ate it 

 greedily (see Fig. 130). Does, bucks and fawns all were observed to 

 eat the dead moist stalks of sedge (Carex) that had been killed by frost 

 and matted down in shallow water. 



Typical food preferences of mule deer at Giant Forest, observed 

 on December 18, 1929, were as follows: 



2 does ate sedge (Carex) 50 deer minutes. 



1 buck ate sedge (Carex) 20 deer minutes. 



2 does ate snow brush (C. corduJatvs) 90 deer minutes. 



3 fawns ate snow brush (C. cordulatus) 90 deer minutes. 

 2 bucks ate snow brush (C. cordulatus) 120 deer minutes. 



1 fawn ate chinquapin (leaves) 15 minutes. 



2 does, 1 buck and 2 fawns ate staghorn lichen. 



Staghorn lichen or unsea moss is an important winter food. 

 Repeated observations in winter revealed that even fawns nibble the 

 moss from fallen limbs and in several instances I have seen deer 

 expectantly waiting until they heard the crash of a fallen limb, where- 

 upon they went directly to the spot and ate the lichen (see Fig. 117). 

 The lichen has an acid flavor not unpleasant to the taste. 



In both Sequoia and Yosemite, as well as in San Diego County, I 

 have observed that in January the dead, dry leaves of the California 

 black oak are seldom eaten. However, as soon as it rains or snows and 

 these leaves become moist and soften a bit, the deer eat them in large 

 quantities. Leaves that become matted down and moist from contact 

 with the damp ground are often pawed or rooted up and eaten. Even 

 the fawns locate and eat these leaves after rooting about in the snow 

 (see Fig. 74). The older deer sometimes paw the snow away in 

 order to get at both dead leaves and acorns. On January 30, 1929, 

 in the Yosemite region, I found that acorns from California black oaks 

 formed the chief diet. These acorns were sought for amid the fallen 

 leaves by bucks, does and fawns. The deer are evidently able to detect 

 defective acorns, for without fail I found that a wormy acorn or a blank 

 acorn that contained no meat was always rejected. As a test I experi- 

 mented by throwing a handful of good acorns broadcast on the ground 

 where the earth was already littered with blank or defective ones. The 

 good acorns were picked out unerringly by the deer while I observed 

 them with binoculars. Now and then a deer would miss a good acorn, 

 but it did not pick up the blank acorns, not touching or coming within 



