The Mule-deer 49 



act of giving birth to two fawns. One had just 

 been born and the other was born as the doe 

 made her first leap away. She ran off with as 

 much speed and unconcern as if nothing what- 

 ever had happened. I passed on immediately, 

 lest she should be so frightened as not to come 

 back to the fawns. It has happened that where 

 I have found the newly born fawns I have invari- 

 ably found the doe to be entirely alone, but her 

 young of the previous year must sometimes at 

 least be in the neighborhood, for a little later I 

 have frequently seen the doe and her fawn or 

 fawns, and either one or two young of the previ- 

 ous year, together. Often, however, these young 

 deer will themselves be alone, or associated with 

 an older doe which is barren. The bucks at the 

 same time go to secluded places; sometimes 

 singly, while sometimes an old buck will be accom- 

 panied by a younger one, or a couple of old bucks 

 will lie together. They move about as little as 

 possible while their horns are growing, and if a 

 hunter comes by, they will lie far closer than at 

 any other time of the year, squatting in the dense 

 thickets as if they were whitetails. 



When in the Bad Lands of the western Da- 

 kotas the late September breezes grow cold, then 

 the bucks, their horns already clean of velvet 

 which they have thrashed off on the bushes and 

 saplings, feel their necks begin to swell; and 



