24 THE RED DEER. 



a help in the attainment of the end for which they 

 would appear entirely to exist, it would seem to 

 our crude reasonings that nature is guilty of yet 

 another blunder. The horns are sexual append- 

 ages, yet their existence defeats sexual aims. If 

 they are purely decorative, then they fail in that 

 respect also. Nature does not waste valuable 

 material on ornaments that are not appreciated 

 by the species on which they are bestowed ; for 

 example, the red back of the male shrike is to 

 attract the eye of the female shrike, and not to 

 decorate the woods for the advantage of all in- 

 terested therein. The hinds do not appreciate the 

 antlers of a royal head, or they would not meekly 

 follow at the heels of a hornless rival. 



It may be argued that such spreading antlers 

 were designed by nature to present a wide front 

 of defence to the massed attack of wolves, the 

 stag, turning at bay, thus being able to defend his 

 flanks or even the hinds cowering behind him. 

 To this I would reply that the closely allied 

 Whitetail deer of Canada, which is more harassed 

 by wolves than any other creature on earth, is 

 designed by nature to go hornless during the very 

 season when attack from wolves is most likely ! 

 A good vigorous Whitetail sheds its antlers in 

 mid-December, and wolves hunt in packs at least 

 till the end of February. In fact, it is realised by 

 the Indians that wolves are more likely to prove 

 dangerous during January and February than at 

 any other time of the year the very season at 

 which the deer have no horns wherewith to defend 

 themselves ! It may further be added that though 

 the antlers of the Whitetail are far more effective 

 as stabbing weapons than are those of the red 

 deer, a hunted stag seldom or never turns to 



