214 Deer of the Pacific Coast 



deer when not troubled becomes disgustingly 

 tame, just as he becomes dangerously familiar as 

 a pet. He is the worst of his race in this respect, 

 and the baby fawn that seems so innocent will 

 butt you over or strike you with its feet before it 

 is half grown. 



I have not yet been able to discover that perse- 

 cution makes this deer watch its back track before 

 being started. Even after being started it is not 

 so particular as the Virginia in this respect, and 

 it is much more easy to see again and even to 

 get a good shot at, though as a rule it does not 

 pay to try. He will often stop on the upward 

 slope of the next hill after running over a ridge, 

 and often, if he is running then, a ball that ploughs 

 the dry dirt ahead of him will turn or daze him 

 long enough to give you a shot or two. So that 

 if you are near the crest of a ridge when one runs 

 over, it will generally pay to run to the top of it. 



In rainy weather the movements of this deer 

 are irregular after he once begins to travel. Dur- 

 ing a storm he generally moves little, keeping in 

 heavy brush about the heads of deep gulches or 

 sheltering rocks. But after the rain is over he 

 will go almost anywhere and travel farther than 

 before, so that tracking by your knowledge of 

 his habits is much more difficult than when the 

 ground is dry. In the dry summer of southern 

 California his habits are very regular when not 



