206 ON THE EDGE OF THE WILDERNESS 
blossom stage, a chicken run was too small a spot 
in which to confine him. Snyder tried the ex- 
periment once or twice of letting him loose in the 
yard, but on the first occasion he jumped the 
fence and was chased back in terror by a dog, and 
on the second occasion he went into a neighbor’s 
yard, demolished the lettuce in an open cold 
frame, and then knocked down the neighbor’s lit- 
tle boy with the part of his head where his horns 
were going to be. After that, Snyder took him 
to the superintendent of one of the big summer 
states, where there was a big chicken run of al- 
most an acre, and left him there for the winter. 
In spite of this rearing in captivity, which is 
bad as a rule for all deer and moose, because by 
nature they range for their food and thus keep in 
condition, Ol’ Buck seemed to thrive, and when 
early spring came he had every appearance of 
health. He was full of ginger, too, and though 
well enough disposed toward the man who fed 
him, he not infrequently threatened to try his 
budding antlers on anybody else who got him into 
a corner. 
Once a woman came to see him. 
