314 ECONOMIC MAMMALOGY 



Forest, Arizona, where their natural food had become so scarce that 

 they were starving. 26 Serious question is raised as to the wisdom of 

 completely protecting the does year after year, which results in un- 

 balancing the sexes 27 and probably weakens the herd as a whole. 

 Though the wisdom of thinning out the does after prolonged complete 

 protection at the expense of the bucks has been disputed by some natu- 

 ralists, 28 recent experiences and investigations in Pennsylvania cannot 

 be ignored or lightly set aside. "Overcrowded conditions of the herds 

 have resulted in the poor development of antlers among the bucks; 

 the breeding season is so upset as a result of the unbalanced condition 

 of the sexes that many fawns are produced too late in the season for 

 them to compete with their elders in securing food during the winter." 

 In one county "the old deer, by standing on their hind legs, had eaten 

 the edible food to a height of about six feet. The young deer, being 

 unable to reach so high, were forced to feed on woody stems, bark and 

 other indigestible matter; consequently they died from malnutrition. 

 Dead deer seemed to be everywhere ... 6 within a distance of 200 

 yards." "Over one thousand dead fawns were found in four townships 

 of northwestern Clearfield County." Around one refuge 46 dead deer 

 were counted. "All of the dead deer examined were greatly emaciated, 

 but none showed signs of injury or disease. 29 A special doe season was 

 provided in 1928, when 25,097 does were taken and no bucks. As 

 Pennsylvania has been very successful in maintaining and increas- 

 ing its deer herds, in the face of annual open seasons on bucks and 

 increasing number of licensed hunters, the table on page 315 is of inter- 

 est. 30 



It seems manifest that if deer are to be protected for the benefit 

 of the hunters or of the general public, and are thereby encouraged to 

 multiply, then farmers, gardeners, and others whose -crops or other 

 property are injured by deer should receive compensation out of the 

 hunting license fee fund or from tax funds. In Pennsylvania it was 



^Grinnell, The starving deer of the Kaibab Forest, Outlook, cxxxvi, 186-187, 

 1924. In 1929, during a iq-weeks open season on this plateau, 2372 licensed hunters 

 killed 3428 deer, California Fish and Game, xvi, 251, 1930. Griswold, The Kaibab 

 facts, not fancies, Outdoor Life, LXVI, 35-36, 1930. 



27 Kalmar, The Adirondack deer, American Game, xvm, 85, 1929. Sherman and 

 Hill, Should does be killed?, American Game, xvn, 92-93, 1928. Schierbeck, Is it 

 right to protect the female of the species at the cost of the male?, Canadian Field 

 Naturalist, XLIII, 6-9, 1929. 



28 See California Fish and Game, xv, 263, 1929, citing Hall, Canadian Field 

 Naturalist, March, 1929. 



29 The Pennsylvania deer problem, Pennsylvania Board Game Comm. Bull. No. 

 12, pp. 7, 8, 19^9. See also Forbes and Beckdel, Ecology, xu, 323-333, 1931. 



80 Outdoor Life, p. 37, 1929; pp. 36-37, Oct., 1930. 



