126 



ORDERS OF MAMMALS— HOOFED ANIMALS 



in number. They were obtained from an animal 

 killed in White River County, Colorado. A very 

 large pair from the Shoshone Mountains, in the 

 author's collection of horns, has a beam length of 

 58 inches, a spread of 491 inches, and burr circum- 

 ference of 11 inches. 



Elk hunting is not always as fine sport as the 

 noble individuality of this animal would nat- 

 urally lead the hunter to expect. Very often 

 the Elk is unsuspicious, to the point of stupidity. 

 There have been many times when attacking a 

 herd was too much like attacking a herd of cat- 

 tle. R is not an animal of " highly-wrought- 

 nervous" temperament, like the deer, but when 

 startled is too much given to hesitating, and 

 seeking knowledge, before it dashes away to 

 safety. 



During the last three years important steps 

 have been taken, by private individuals only, 

 toward restoring the Elk to the Adirondack for- 

 ests, which it once inhabited. In 1901, the Hon. 

 William C. Whitney caused twenty-two head to 

 be liberated there, and in 1902, forty more were 

 set free. In August and September, 1903, five 

 car-loads of Elk, sixty-eight head in all, were 

 shipped from Mr. Whitney's game preserve on 

 October Mountain, near Lenox, Mass., and lib- 

 erated at Saranac Lake, Floodwood Station and 

 near Paul Smith's Station. All these animals had 

 become fully acclimatized on the Atlantic coast, 

 were in fine physical condition, and if not killed 

 by poachers will no doubt multiply at a reason- 

 ably rapid rate. That many of these fine ani- 

 mals will from time to time be killed and eaten 

 by lawless and unprincipled persons seems abso- 

 lutely certain, and the great danger is that 

 they will be killed more rapidly than they breed. 

 The Mule Deer, or Rocky Mountain "Black- 

 Tail," 1 is a large and handsome animal, and 

 the largest of the North American species that 

 are universally known as "deer." It is easily 

 recognized by its very large ears, the two Y's on 

 each antler, a short, white tail with a small 

 tip of black, and a white patch around the base 

 of the tail. Its antlers are much larger than 

 those of the white-tailed deer. Owing to their 

 size and width, and their more erect poise on the 

 head, the appearance of this animal is more 

 stately than that of any other round-horned 

 American deer, save the elk. 



1 O-do-coi'le-us hem-i-o'nus. 



In the region it inhabits, this fine animal is 

 known as the "Black-Tailed" Deer; but that 

 name is not appropriate to a creature which has a 

 snow-white tail with only a tiny tip of black. It 

 rightfully belongs to the Pacific coast species, 

 which has a black tail, and is known by no other 

 name than Columbian Black-Tail. To avoid 

 further confusion and misunderstandings, stu- 

 dents are urged to speak of the Rocky Mountain 

 species as the Mule Deer. 



The winter color of the Mule Deer is a steel 

 gray, to match the gray rocks and vegetation 

 amongst which it lives. Its summer coat is gray- 

 brown, and it is shed in September. 



The Mule Deer chooses for its home the most 

 picturesque " bad-lands " and foot-hills of the 

 Rocky Mountain region, and the deep ravines 

 along rivers, but it also ascends the mountain 

 plateaus of its home to an elevation of 12,000 

 feet. It is a proud-spirited, high-headed ani- 

 mal, a bold traveller, and like the mountain 

 sheep, is often found where the scenery is wild 

 and picturesque. In this respect it differs from 

 the white-tailed deer, which prefers low ground, 

 and either brush or timber in which to hide. 



A large Mule Deer buck, shot by the author 

 on Snow Creek, Montana, measured 42 inches 

 high at the shoulders, and 62 + 6 inches in length. 

 A large pair of antlers (in the author's collection) 

 have a beam length of 27£ inches, spread 29 

 inches, and have 14 points. 



In the United States, the present scarcity of 

 really large antlers in the possession of taxider- 

 mists is a sure sign of the approaching end of this 

 species. 



In February, 1903, Mr. A. G. Wallihan, the 

 famous photographer of wild animals in their 

 haunts, made the following prediction regarding 

 the impending extermination of the Mule Deer in 

 Colorado, its centre of abundance in the United 

 States: 



"Unless we have a close season on deer, five 

 years will see the finish of these animals. Five 

 years would give them a good start again. I 

 will cite you some figures: In 1897 I was on the 

 big trail here for nine days, and I counted within 

 a few of a thousand deer. In 1901 I was on the 

 same trail for eighteen days, and counted two 

 hundred and twenty-eight deer. In 1902 I was 

 out fourteen days, and counted fifty-two deer. 

 More deer passed in a single twenty-four hours in 



