FIGHTING AMONG DEER 65 



Men who have charge of deer herds must keep the bucks 

 in a perpetual state of fear. Do not make a pet of any male 

 member of the Deer Family after it is two years old. It is 

 dangerous. In the autumn or winter never enter an enclosure 

 containing deer, elk or caribou unless armed with a pitchfork, 

 or a long pole of tough wood, with an iron spike in the end. 

 If a buck threatens to attack you, strike him across the nose; 

 for that is his tender spot. When angry he can take any 

 amount of punishment on the forehead, neck and shoulders, 

 without its diminishing his energy in the least. 



Solitary bucks in small corrals are most dangerous. Where 

 deer run in a large herd, the danger is much less; but if a 

 herd-buck begins to approach people with the slow stride of 

 a pugilist, lips and nose turned up, ears laid back, and snort- 

 ing defiantly, shut him up at once, or saw off his antlers close 

 to his head, before he does mischief. 



FIGHTING AMONG DEER. Even among themselves deer 

 are murderous brutes. It is quite a common thing for one 

 buck treacherously to assassinate another; and some are 

 such thorough degenerates that they will murder their own 

 does and fawns. The largest and handsomest bucks are not 

 always the best fighters, for they often lack the activity and 

 youthful vigor which give supremacy to a younger animal. 



Judging by the number of pairs of deer that have been 

 found dead with their antlers tightly locked, w T ild deer are 

 much given to fighting during the rutting season. It is to 

 be remembered, however, that male deer are in the habit of 

 playfully sparring with their horns, and it is very likely that 

 many a death-lock has been due to a pushing-match rather 



