THE LIFE OF MAMMALS 
the method, the degree of wariness in the game, and personal 
preference and experience. 
Though the whitetail is scattered throughout the West (except 
California) in favorable situations, the characteristic deer 
from the Plains west is the mule deer or ‘‘blacktail.” 
Mule Deer. : 2 
It is somewhat larger than the whitetail, and has 
heavier antlers, bearing normally ten points. The body is heavy 
and squarish, the ears eight to nine inches long and thickly 
haired. The base of the tail and a disk around it are white, 
_ but the end of the tail is conspicuously 
black, and is wagged, not set on end, 
ly | when the animal runs. The coat is 
VV / pale tawny in summer and dark gray 
in winter; forehead dusky; nose, ab- 
domen, and inside of the legs white. 
The antlers have the general shape of 
the whitetail’s and fork equally, each 
fork again dividing. “A striking and 
i) beautiful animal” is the verdict of 
- every one who knows it innature. To 
the western Indian it was a mainstay for meat and clothing. 
HEAD OF MULE DE 
“For me, at least,” exclaims A. G. Wallihan, whose field photographing 
of wild deer in Colorado has been so successful, “‘there is a charm about 
the blacktail or mule deer that no other game possesses. 
“Barring the bighorn, their meat is the best, their hide tans into the best 
buckskin, and you turn from the large elk or the agile antelope to the grace- 
ful beauty of the blacktail buck, and find there the greatest satisfaction. 
The head of the bighorn is a finer trophy, no doubt, and you are led to 
grand scenery in the pursuit of him, but it is heart-breaking work. Where 
you find the blacktail you will find other pleasures, for he delights in the 
most charming bits of country to be found. He will jump up from the tall 
weeds and grass among the aspens, so close as to startle you as you ride 
through them, or will leap into view from the shade of a deep washout far 
in the desert, where he finds in the feed and surroundings something to 
suit his taste. He is crafty also, for if he thinks he is hidden I have known 
him to lie in thick bush until almost kicked out after all sorts of expedients 
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