OF WILD ANIMALS 281 



but in a wild state they rarely end in bloodshed or death, save 

 from locked antlers. Many times, however, two bucks will 

 come together, and pla3rfully push each other about without 

 being angry. Many pairs of bucks have been found with their 

 antlers fast locked in death — and I never see a death lock 

 without a feeling of grim satisfaction that neither of the 

 quarrelsome brutes had had an opportunity to attack some 

 defenseless man, and spear him to death. 



The antlers of the common white-tailed deer seem pecu- 

 liarly liable to become interlocked so tightly that it is well-nigh 

 impossible to separate them. And whenever this hap- 

 pens, the doom of both deer is sealed. Unless found speedily 

 and killed, they must die of starvation. While it is quite 

 true that two deer playing with their antlers may becomeiocked 

 fast, it is safe to say that the great majority meet their fate by 

 charging each other with force sufficient to spring the beams 

 of their antlers, and make the lock so perfect that no force 

 they can exert wiU release it. A deer cannot pull back with 

 the same power it exerts in plunging forward. 



All members of the deer family that I know follow the 

 same natural law in regard to supremacy. Indeed, this is true 

 of nearly all animals. Leadership is not always maintained by 

 the largest and strongest member of a lierdj, but very often 

 by the most pugnacious. Sometimes a herd of elk is com- 

 pletely tyrannized by an old doe, who makes the young bucks 

 fly from her in terror, when one prod of their sharp antlers 

 would quickly send her to the rear. 



When bucks in a state of freedom fight for supremacy, the 

 weaker does not stay to be overthrown and speared to death 

 by the victor. As soon as he feels that he is mastered he 

 releases his antlers at the first opportunity, flings himself to 

 one side, and either remains in the herd as an acknowledged 

 subject of the victor, or else seeks fresh fields and pastures new. 



Battles in Zoological Parks. In captivity, where escape 

 is impossible, it is no uncommon thing for elk to kill each other. 



