THE BED DEER. 23 



or any other object that comes handy. By this 

 time the new horns are about three months old, 

 and they are carried for just so long as the hind 

 carries her fawn. 



A span of about forty inches is perhaps the 

 average that the antlers of the red deer of this 

 country attain. 



VALUE OF ANTLERS. 



Of what value are these kingly growths towards 

 the cultivation of which this noble animal devotes 

 so much of its life ? If it were that the deer with 

 the finest antlers was best able to hold his own 

 against other bulls, thereby producing more off- 

 spring than those less well able to defend them- 

 selves, nature's scheme would at once be evident ; 

 but this is not so. In fighting, a stag's brow 

 antlers are the only points calculated to be of 

 use to him. With these he may inflict a mortal 

 wound, but the whole vast superstructure is merely 

 so much weight and hindrance. It can, indeed, 

 be used as a lever against him, and so prove his 

 undoing. A stag burdened with heavy antlers is 

 no match for a polled stag, and polled or horn- 

 less animals are yearly becoming more common. 

 These stags come off best in the supreme con- 

 tests for possession of the hinds, and to-day on 

 many reserves it is no uncommon thing to see the 

 hornless harts in possession of the largest harems. 

 These hornless stags attain greater weight and 

 strength than do the alleged kings of the forest 

 which supports a foregoing statement to the effect 

 that the annual cultivation of new antlers is a 

 severe drain on the animal's vitality. 



Since, then, it is proved that the crowning 

 glory of the red deer is more of a hindrance than 



