THE CABINET OF NATURAL HISTORY 



is recorded. " As we were descending from one of these 

 ridges, ovir attention was called to an unusual noise, pro- 

 ceeding from a copse of low bushes on our right, at a few 

 rods from the path; on arriving at the spot, we found 

 two buck Deer, their horns fast interlocked with each other, 

 and both much spent with fatigue; one, in particular, being 

 so much exhausted, as to be unable to stand. As we 

 perceived it would be impossible they should extricate 

 themselves, and must linger in their present situation until 

 they died of hunger or were destroyed by the wolves, we 

 despatched them with our knives, not without having first 

 made an unavailing attempt to disentangle their antlers." 

 Mr. Say also appears to think that this is by no means an 

 uncommon occurrence. 



The doe brings forth one or two, and sometimes, though 

 very rarely, three fawns. When the period of parturition 

 comes on, she retires from the society of the young Deer, 

 in whose society she had spent the winter. She feels 

 the tenderest afiection for her offspring, and displays great 

 sagacity in protecting and bringing it up. She care- 

 fully hides it in some dense thicket, from those numerous 

 enemies of whom its life is in danger. Even the 

 buck himself requires to be guarded against. But be- 

 tween courage and ingenuity, she proves herself a power- 

 ful protectress. In the defence of her young, she will 

 sometimes oppose force to force in the boldest manner; at 

 others, she, with the same unconcern for her own safety, 

 offers herself to the chase, to mislead the hunter or beast of 

 prey, from the covert in which she has secreted her 

 young. 



Deer are supposed to live from thirty to forty j'ears, 

 though, judging from some instances of the longevity of the 

 Stag of Europe, (C. elephits,) it is probable that this is 

 underrated. Pliny tells us, that more than one hundred 

 years after the death of Alexander the Great, some Stags 

 were taken with golden chains about their necks, which 

 appeared to have been put upon them by command of that 

 hero. 



The mild and peaceful character of Deer, affords them 

 no protection from the hostilities of rapacious enemies. 

 Wolves and other beasts of prey destroy vast numbers; but 

 their chief enemy is man, who wars with the savage 

 animals in his own defence, tyrannises over the domestic 

 because he finds their services useful, and pursues the 

 gentle inhabitants of the forests, either for subsistence or 

 amusement. From the earliest ages, the hunting of Deer 

 has been pursued with eagerness, and many stratagems 

 have been resorted to, for the purpose of slaying or captur- 

 ing these timid animals. We cannot, at this time, allude 

 to those employed in other countries, and will, therefore, 

 confine our observations to such as have been successfully 



practised by our aboriginal tribes, and their more civilized 

 successors. 



One mode practised by the Indians, is to imitate the cry 

 of the male, or fawn. The voice of the male calling the 

 female, is not very dissimilar to that caused by blowing into 

 the muzzle of a gun or hollow cane, whilst that of the 

 female calling the young is ma, ma, pronounced very 

 shortly. This is well simulated by the native tribes, 

 with a stem of the Heracleiun lanatiim, cut at the joint, 

 leaving six inches of a tube; with this, aided by a head 

 and horns of a full-grown buck, which the hunter carries 

 with him as a decoy, and which he moves backwards 

 and forwards among the long grass, alternately feigning the 

 voice with the tube; the unsuspecting animal is attracted 

 within a few yards, in the hope of finding its partner, when, 

 instantly springing up, the hunter plants an arrow in his 

 object.* 



They are also shot by cautiously approaching them 

 against the wind, the extreme acuteness of their smell 

 enabling them to detect the approach of any one, in the 

 opposite direction, even at very great distances. Hunters 

 have also taken advantage of the extreme predilection of 

 these animals for salt, and destroyed great numbers from 

 coverts established in the vicinity of natural or artificial 

 salines or licks. An old hunter, in this state, has informed 

 us that he killed thirty Deer in one season by this means. 

 Many are also shot by taking advantage of their custom 

 of resorting to the water side, at certain times of the day. 

 The Indians, according to Catesby, were also in the habit 

 of encompassing a vast space of country, and driving the 

 animals into some strait or peninsula, where they became 

 an easy prey. 



Notwithstanding the natural timidity of Deer, they will 

 fight desperately, when wounded, or brought to bay. In 

 this state they not only use their horns, but also inflict 

 severe, and oftentimes fatal wounds, by leaping upwards and 

 striking the hunter, on their descent, with the sharp edges 

 of their hoofs. These wounds were formerly considered as 

 peculiarly dangerous, particularly at certain seasons of the 

 year: thus, it is asserted — 



If Ihou be hurl with hart, it brings thee to thy bier. 



But barber's hand will boar's hurt heal, thereof thou need'st not fear- 



Whether this verse be founded on truth or fiction, it is 

 certain, that the task of going in and killing a wounded 

 Deer, is always attended with considerable peril. We are 

 indebted to Mr. Titian Peale for an account of an adventure 

 of this kind, which occurred to himself whilst attached to 

 the Expedition to the Rocky Mountains. Messrs. Peale 



* Richardson. Fauna. Bor. Am. 



