196 Deer of the Pacific Coast 



and ten the first of July, which is the climax of 

 fatness in most animals in California. This was 

 a fair, average big buck such as most people 

 would guess two hundred and twenty-five pounds 

 dressed. I have seen several that would weigh 

 something more, but for one such there are a 

 dozen that will not dress one hundred and twenty. 

 The largest I ever shot was in Durango, Mexico, 

 and it was plainly larger and fatter than this one. 



Most any one would have taken it for a differ- 

 ent deer, but it was identical with the common 

 deer of southern California. 



But on the desert side of the mountains in 

 northern California is found what is called the 

 " mule-tailed deer," a mule-deer so different from 

 the common one that it is probably correct to 

 consider it another variety. This deer will aver- 

 age larger than the mule-deer of the south, 

 though it is doubtful if any will exceed some of 

 the specimens found at times along the whole 

 lower coast. This mule-tailed deer may have 

 occasionally straggled to the southern deserts 

 and given rise to the idea of another deer. Or 

 the confusion of names and the extra large bucks 

 sometimes found among the common mule-deer 

 may account for it. I have never known the 

 " mule-tailed " deer to reach the coast or interior 

 valleys of California, and the only one known 

 west of the Sierra Nevada and south of the 



