166 



I 



KEARTONS' NATURE PICTURES 



horn. The annual shedding and re- 

 growing of antlers may be reckoned 



RED DEER. 



amongst Nature's most wonderful per- 

 formances. It is said to represent the 

 production of the greatest weight of 

 bone in the least given time known to 

 science. A fully-grown Scottish stag will 

 produce antlers weighing from twelve 



to fifteen pounds in the space of as many 

 weeks. 



When the animal casts its horns 

 it retires to some secluded spot and 

 awaits the growth of its new ones. 

 These are at first covered by a soft 

 downy coat called " velvet," and are 

 so susceptible to injury that a slight 

 scratch will produce a flow of blood 

 from the wound. As soon as the antlers 

 have attained their full growth for the 

 season, and have become sufficiently 

 hard, the stag rubs them against the 

 boughs of trees until he dislodges the 

 dead covering skin or " velvet." 



In the summer the old stags retire to 

 the higher parts of the hills, whilst the 

 hinds and young seem to prefer the lower 

 ground. In Mull and other places I 

 have watched stags come down to the 

 lochs in the early hours of the morning 

 and after drinking return to their feeding 

 ground. 



The food of the Red Deer consists 

 of grass, leaves, young shoots, acorns, 

 beech-mast, and when they can be 

 got at potatoes. The last-mentioned 

 discolour the teeth of the animal to 

 some extent. 



