ARTIODACTYLA 317 



"rarely, if ever, eat grass or any forage plant eaten by horses or cat- 

 tle, but live on leaves and twigs of bushes, seeds, pods and flowers, 

 including acorns and the pods of numerous kinds of bean bushes." 

 Western white-tailed deer (O. v. macrourus) in Texas feeds largely on 

 acorns in autumn. Sonora or Arizona white-tailed deer (0. couesi) : 

 in June their food "consisted mainly of leaves, flowers, green seeds, 

 and capsules or pods of a great variety of shrubs and plants," includ- 

 ing oaks, etc. "Acorns were the great attraction during fall and win- 

 ter. No trace of grass could be found in any of the three stomachs 

 examined." Mexican mule deer (O. h. canns): "they eat the green 

 stalks "of the big century plants (Agave zvisliseni and applanata), and 

 paw open the cabbage-like caudex of the sotol (Dasylirion texanum) 

 for its starchy and juicy center," and in March and April "they seem 

 to feed to a great extent on the blossoms of Yucca macrocarpa and 

 Dasylirion iexanum" 



The question as to the effect of a mountain laurel and rhododen- 

 dron diet upon white-tailed deer has been discussed recently at some 

 length. 43 '* 



Because of their browsing habit, deer often damage orchard trees, 

 especially young trees. 44 It is said this may be prevented by the 

 use of cloths soaked in sheep dip, suspended from trees by wires, so 

 as not to come into contact with the trees, this keeping the deer away 

 without killing them. 45 Wagner recommended i pound of blood-meal 

 to 3 gallons of water as the best repellant spray and wash, repeated 

 every two weeks, to prevent damage to trees by deer and rabbits. 46 

 They are also destructive to young forest and shade trees, whose tops 

 they are able to reach and browse. "Ninety per cent of the 197,000 

 trees planted on the Moshannon State Forest, in Pennsylvania, during 

 the past three years have been destroyed by deer," according to John 

 W. Keller, chief of the State Bureau of Extension. The plantation of 

 Scotch pine showed 40 per cent of the trees killed by deer, and 50 

 per cent so injured that it is doubtful if they will survive. Eleven 

 per cent of the pitch pine plantations were killed and 65 per cent of the 

 trees severely injured. Only trees planted in aspen and wild cherry 



43 ~* Forbes and Beckdel, Mountain laurel and rhododendron as foods for the 

 white-tailed deer, Ecology, xn, 323-333, 1931. 



44 Hall, The deer of California, California Fish and Game, xui, 234-259, 1927. 

 True, Damage by deer to crops in California, California Fish and Game* xvm, 136- 

 J 37 IQ3 2 ; Repellents and deer damage control, ibid., pp. 156-165. 



45 Dondero, Protecting orchards from deer, California Fish and Game, xrv, 

 221, 1928. 



** Wagner, A spray for preventing damage by deer, California Fish and Game, 

 i, 241, 1915. 



