42 BEACH GRASS 



been for over a hundred years, and it is possible 

 that in some localities it is even more abundant 

 than has ever been the case. For not only 

 has white man ceased to persecute the deer, but he 

 has eliminated its natural enemies, such as 

 wolves, lynxes and panthers, as well as Indians." 

 Since 1912, there has been an open season every 

 fall of six days and the slaughter of deer at first 

 was so great that they were all but exterminated 

 from this region. In nine years two hundred 

 and twenty deer were shot in Essex County. 



Of late years the deer have increased again, 

 and, although rarely seen, give evidence by their 

 tracks of much night wandering in the dunes. 

 Sometimes the tracks go straight, as if the animal 

 had his objective point clearly in mind. As he 

 walks his split hoof — his third and fourth toes — 

 curve together so that they nearly meet. Each 

 hind foot falls so exactly into the track of the fore 

 foot that a duplication of marks is rarely seen. 

 When he runs and bounds, the split hoof spreads 

 with the harder impact of the jumps, and the 

 third and fourth toes make almost parallel or 

 even diverging, instead of converging marks. At 



