14 DEER : THEIR HABITS 



bear witness to the good sport it affords ; though the 

 chase is short it is exciting and very amusing to see 

 the gallant buck try and defend himself; to those wit- 

 nessing it, it is a desperate time for the dog, for after 

 he has seized the ear the buck will give a tremendous 

 thrust, and try and throw the dog on the earth ; even 

 then if the dog is a good one he will not leave go, un- 

 less, as is sometimes the case, a portion of the ear is 

 torn off in the struggle ; there is little fear of the keeper 

 being hurt unless the dog leaves go ; this occurs some- 

 times, when he must be ready to seize the horns as the 

 buck comes at him, or he may get the antlers into him : 

 a wound caused by a stab is a very difficult one to 

 heal. I have several times seen the buck charge the 

 keeper's horse when he was encouraging a young dog ; 

 upon one occasion the buck's horns just hit the stirrup 

 iron as the keeper wheeled his horse round to escape 

 the thrust. If a buck is hard pressed by a dog, and 

 near to water he will take to it, and will not easily quit 

 it. At Blenheim Park formerly they often caught their 

 bucks by running them into the water, and then 

 securing them with a boat, but it requires a very good 

 boatman to do this. Red deer will often take to the 

 water when pressed, and an old stag will lower his head 

 as much as possible, only just leaving his nose above 

 water in order to elude his pursuers. A remarkable 

 fact can be vouched for by the writer of an old stag 

 having accidentally caused his own death in this way. 

 The stag had been chased for some time, and a good 

 deal blown when he went into the water ; a horseman 

 being near, he immediately lowered himself, but was 

 not careful enough to keep his nose above water, and 

 in an instant he was choked, the water going in upon 

 his laboured respiration, and the horseman, riding into 

 the water, dragged the deer into the shallow with one 

 of his bridle reins. Where there is much water it is 

 most desirable to have a dog under good command, 

 otherwise, he may drown the buck if he follows him 

 into the water. When sufficient bucks have been taken 



