292 THE DEER OF AMERICA. 
and are shunned scarcely more, by either old or young, than they 
would be by our common cattle, that have no more constant as- 
sociation with man than they have. They will not submit to be 
driven from one park to another through the gate, for instance, 
or into a yard, but so soon as they perceive the object, their sus- 
picions seem to be aroused and they will- break back and retreat 
to a distant part of the park. This no doubt results from want 
of breaking. Had we practiced driving and herding them from 
the beginning, I have no doubt they could have been as readily 
handled as our sheep or cattle. They are very easily broken, 
when they quietly submit. A young Elk may be caught up and 
put in the stable, and so soon as he appreciates that he cannot 
get away, that his efforts to escape avail him nothing, and that 
he is kindly treated and has nothing to fear, he submits to be 
handled and harnessed like a colt, though in this experiment I 
have found individuals to differ much in disposition. I have 
found no difficulty in completely subduing the fully adult Elk, 
and this must be done before it is safe to put him in a cage to 
send away. I once had to ship a pair to friends in California, and 
got a number in the yard and captured and caged the buck (he 
was a fine specimen, weighing eleven hundred and fifty pounds 
with the cage, which may have weighed three hundred pounds). 
We concluded, as it was getting late, to catch the doe in an easier 
and quicker way: so we removed a board from the side of the yard 
and placed the cage in front of it; she saw the opening and dashed 
in and was secured in a moment. I saw she made a good deal of 
fuss about it, but thought she would be quiet by morning, and so 
she was, for I found she had broken her neck during the night, 
when we had to catch and subdue another, and had no further 
difficulty. A short explanation of how this is done, taking a 
large buck, for example, may be interesting. For the purpose I 
have a Spanish lasso, the noose of which is spread upon the 
ground in the yard or on the feeding grounds, when we manage 
to get him to step into it with a hind foot; then three stout men 
on the outside spring it and draw him towards the fence, being 
sure at all times to keep the leg drawn out. That is all they are 
to do without drawing him home too fast. His efforts to escape 
are at first almost appalling. Directly he throws himself and 
perhaps will roll quite over and endeavor to spring up, and if too 
near the fence he must be allowed to do this, at least so far as to 
get further away, when another strong pull will bring him down, 
and then when he goes to rise again a good pull will prevent 
