94 THE DEER OF AMERICA. ■ 



of long black hairs ; naked on the under side. Metatarsal gland very large 

 and long. Tarsal gland, present. Hoofs black. No white hairs about 

 the feet or the metatarsal gland. A white section opposite and below the 

 tail. 



A;t i- - /y^t-v-yi.^rt-,^t.^ J^ GENERAL KEMAKKS. 



This deer was first discovered by Lewis and Clark on the 18th 

 of September, 1804, in north latitude 42° on the Missouri River, 

 and called by them Black-tailed Deer. By this name they often 

 mention it, until the 31st day of May, 1805, when Captain Clark, 

 in enumerating the animals found on the Columbia River below 

 the falls, calls it the Blule Deer. And by that name they ever 

 after speak of it, except in one instance they again call it the 

 Black-tailed Deer. On the 30th of August, 1806, near where 

 they first saw this deer in 1804, they procured a specimen to 

 bring home and called it the Mule Deer. This is the last men- 

 tion they make of it. The excessive development of the ears well 

 justified them in the name which they gave it. In the Rocky 

 Mountain region where the true black-tailed deer is not found, 

 it is still known among the hunters and settlers as the black- 

 tailed deer. On the Pacific coast, where the true black-tailed 

 deer is known, this is called by its true name, the Mule Deer, by 

 which designation it is also recognized by naturalists. 



The original range of this deer has not been very much re- 

 stricted since he was first discovered, though he has been driven 

 back from the Missouri River, and has deserted other limited 

 localities, where the miners or settlers have driven him away. 

 Its most natural home is a mountainous region, but it is found on 

 the great plains hundreds of miles east of them, and it may not 

 be improbable that many ever live there that never see a moun- 

 tain. On the great plains it most aifects the borders of the 

 streams where the ground is broken and arboreous food can be 

 found. 



West of the Rocky Mountains this deer is met with almost 

 everywhere, though much more abundantly in some places than 

 others. In the Coast Range of northern California they are al- 

 most entirely replaced by the Columbia black-tailed deer, while 

 in the Coast Range of southern California scarcely any other 

 deer is met with. Here, however, a very distinct variety of this 

 deer occurs, differing in important particulars from those found 

 east of the Sierras, as will be more particularly explained here- 

 after. In all of Oregon, in Washington Territory, and in Brit- 



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