THE RED DEER'S LIFE 37 



very charming to see a young Scotch stag canter up 

 to the windows of a lodge, to beg for an offering of 

 oatcake. 



Hinds are more docile pets than stags. It is true 

 that even hinds can and will defend themselves 

 on occasion, especially against dogs, by rapid strokes 

 of their forelegs. Stags are apt to become formidable, 

 especially when the rutting season approaches ; for 

 the pugnacious instinct developed by their sexual 

 desires often prompts them to attack strangers, even 

 when entirely unprovoked. If a young stag develops 

 a tendency to attack people, he should be sent to the 

 hill, or disposed of in some other way. A tame stag 

 is rather unsafe even on the hill, for he may take it 

 into his head to patrol a particular beat, and threaten 

 to charge any passer-by. Deer are commonly kept 

 on the same ground as black-faced wedders, and the 

 shepherd who tried to cross a pass guarded by a 

 jealous stag would run a considerable risk of being 

 gored. Occasionally the pranks of a tame stag 

 assume a comic aspect. Some years ago, when self- 

 seeking demagogues had stirred up much agitation in 

 the West Highlands, and the crofters expended their 

 eloquence in denouncing proprietors and factors at 

 the public meetings of a league which busybodies 

 in Glasgow thought fit to subsidise on Irish lines, it 



