14 THE RED DEER. 



another, till the accumulating burden weighs the 

 wretched creature down to die in its own tracks. 



Such is the temperament of the red deer, such 

 the conditions under which it normally lives, that 

 in endeavouring to estimate its powers of repro- 

 duction a very liberal margin must be left for 

 death by circumstances more natural than shot 

 and powder that is to say, if not protected by 

 man, the red deer of the north country would 

 be only just able to hold their own against 

 starvation and the elements; and so vigorous is 

 the life they lead, so subjected to periodical 

 fluctuations of strength and vitality, that it is 

 hardly reasonable to suppose such a life would 

 prove remarkable for its durability. In addition 

 to the rutting season there is the drainage of an 

 annual growth of antlers, the development of 

 which must be a process as irritating and trying 

 to their wearer as the cutting of teeth to human 

 children ; so that, all things considered, it might be 

 conjectured that the hinds stand a far better chance 

 of long life than do the harts. 



Particularly difficult is it to lay down hard-and- 

 fast rules with regard to the red deer, for their 

 environment controls their habits, and therefore to 

 attempt to be conclusive is to invite criticism. 

 Some deer live on the bleak mountain-tops, while 

 others spend the whole of their lives in sheltered 

 woodlands. In all cases, however, they seem to be 

 more susceptible to misfortune than are roe-deer. 



The red deer that dwell in sheltered woods 

 naturally live at a more easy-going rate than do 

 those of the highlands. Whereas a highland stag 

 may begin to show the first signs of senile decline 

 by the steady deterioration of his antlers after his 

 fourteenth year or so, the antlers of a woodland 



