THE MULE DEER FACING EXTERMINATION 73 



The winter color of the Mule Deer is a steel gray, to 

 match the gray rocks and vegetation among which it lives. 

 Its summer coat is gray-brown, and it is shed in September. 



The Mule Deer chooses for its home the most picturesque 

 "bad lands" and foot-hills of the Rocky Mountain region, 

 as well as the deep ravines along rivers, but it also ascends 

 the mountain plateaus of its home to an elevation of 12,000 

 feet. It is a proud-spirited, high-headed animal and a bold 

 traveller; and, like the mountain sheep, it is often found 

 where the scenery is wild and picturesque. In this respect 

 it differs from the white-tailed deer, which prefers low ground 

 and either brush or timber in which to hide. 



A large Mule Deer buck, shot by the author on Snow 

 Creek, Montana, measured 42 inches high at the shoulders, 

 and 62 + 6 inches in length. A large pair of antlers (in the 

 author's collection) have a beam length of 27M inches, with a 

 spread of 29 inches, and have 14 points. 



In the United States the present scarcity of really large 

 antlers in the possession of taxidermists is a sure sign of the 

 approaching end of this species. 



In February, 1903, Mr. A. G. Wallihan, the famous pho- 

 tographer of wild animals in their haunts, made the following 

 prediction regarding the impending extermination of the Mule 

 Deer in Colorado, its centre of abundance in the United States : 



"Unless we have a close season on deer, five years will 

 see the finish of these animals. Five years would give them a 

 good start again. I will cite you some figures: In 1897 I 

 was on the big trail here for nine days, and I counted within 

 a few of a thousand deer. In 1901 I was on the same trail 



