34 Deer and Antelope of North America 



domain of its bolder, less stealthy and less crafty 

 kinsman. Throughout the plains country the 

 whitetail is the deer of the river bottoms, where 

 the rank growth gives it secure hiding-places, as 

 well as ample food. The mule-deer, on the con- 

 trary, never comes down into the dense growths 

 of the river bottoms. Throughout the plains coun- 

 try it is the deer of the broken Bad Lands which 

 fringe these river bottoms on either side, and of 

 the rough ravines which wind their way through 

 the Bad Lands to the edge of the prairie country 

 which lies back of them. The broken hills, their 

 gorges filled with patches of ash, buck brush, cedar, 

 and dwarf pine, form a country in which the mule- 

 deer revels. The whitetail will, at times, wander 

 far out on the prairies where the grass is tall and 

 rank ; but it is not nearly so bold or fond of the 

 open as the mule-deer. The latter is frequently 

 found in hilly country where the covering is so 

 scanty that the animal must be perpetually on the 

 watch, as if it were a bighorn or prongbuck, in 

 order to spy its foes at a distance and escape be- 

 fore they can come near ; whereas the whitetail 

 usually seeks to elude observation by hiding 

 by its crouching, stealthy habits. 



It must be remembered, however, that with the 

 mule-deer, as with all other species of animals, 

 there is a wide variability in habits under differ- 

 ent conditions. This is often forgotten even by 



