120 



OEDEES OP MAMMALS— HOOFED ANIMALS 



disc of bone belonging to the frontal bone of 

 the skull. No blood flows. Dropped antlers are 

 sometimes gnawed by rodents until destroyed; 

 but many are picked up by those who look for 

 them. At the end of the first week, the bony disc 

 or seat of the antler is covered over by the dark 

 brown skin of the head. At the end of two 

 weeks, a rounded bunch, like a big brown tomato, 

 has risen on the pedicle of each antler. It is 

 soft, full of blood, and easily injured. 



Gradually this elongates into the form of a 

 thick, blunt-ended club, in color brown or pink, 

 shiny, and thinly covered with minute hairs. 

 When fairly started, the antlers of a healthy 

 and vigorous elk or caribou grow at the rate of 

 one-third of an inch per day, or even mdre. 

 They are soft, spongy, warm, full of blood, are 

 easily injured, and if cut will bleed freely. The 

 material of which they are composed, internally, 

 is the same as that which forms the hair. The 

 drain upon the animal's vitality during this 

 period is very severe, and it is not strange that 

 the animal is then meek and spiritless. 



A large pair of elk antlers, dropped in the 

 Zoological Park on March 21st, had been renewed ' 

 to their full length by June 21st, but the tips 

 were flat and club-hke. The first sign of the 

 hardening process was the shrinkage of the blunt 

 tips of the tines to sharp points. Gradually the 

 diameter of the entire antler decreased in size, 

 and at the same time the hair composing the 

 velvet grew longer. The surface now assumed 

 a gray appearance. On August 1st all the points 

 were sharp, and the antlers were in perfect form, 

 but the velvet was all on. (See " The Elk's Calen- 

 dar," page 122.) 



Deer as Dangerous Animals.^The rapid 

 multiplication of deer parks, and small collec- 

 tions of captive animals, renders it necessary to 

 offer a few words of warning regarding deer of all 

 species. During the season immediately fol- 

 lowing the perfect development of the new ant- 

 lers, — say September, October and November, — 

 male deer, elk, caribou and moose sometimes 

 become as savage as whelp-robbed tigers. The 

 neck swells far beyond its natural size, the eye- 

 I)its distend, and the buck goes stalking about 

 with ears laid back and nostrils expanded, fairly 

 spoiling for a fight. I have seen stags that were 

 mild and gentle during eight or nine months of 

 the j^ear suddenly transformed into murderous 



demons, ready and anxious to stab to death any 

 unarmed man who ventured near. 



At first a buck walks slowly up to his victim, 

 makes a wry face, and with his sharp, new antlers 

 makes believe to play with him. Not wishing 

 to be punctured, the intended victim lays hold 

 of the antlers, and seeks to keep them out of his 

 vitals. On finding himself opposed, the buck 

 begins to drive forward like a battering ram, 

 and then the struggle is on. 



Heaven help the man thus attacked, if no 

 other help be near! He shuts his teeth, grips 

 the murderous bone spears with all his strength, 

 leans well forward, and with the strength and 

 nimbleness of desperation, struggles to maintain 

 his grasp and keep his feet. Each passing in- 

 stant the rage of the buck, and his joy of com- 

 bat, increases. If the man goes down, and help 

 fails to come quickly, his chances to escape the 

 spears are few. 



Once when unarmed and alone, I saved myself 

 from an infuriated buck (fortunately a small 

 one), by suddenly releasing one antler, seizing 

 a fore-leg low down, and pulling it up so high 

 that the animal was powerless to lunge forward 

 as he had been doing. In this way I held him 

 at bay, and at last worked him to a spot where I 

 secured a stout cudgel, with which I belabored 

 him so unmercifully that he was Conquered for 

 that day. 



The strength and fury of a buck of insignifi- 

 cant size are often beyond belief. The loving 

 "pet" of May readily becomes the dangerous, 

 fury-filled murderer of October. With a large 

 deer of any species, a man not fully armed has 

 little chance. In the winter of 1902, at Helenaj 

 Montana, a man armed with a pitchfork entered 

 an elk corral, to show a friend that the large male 

 elk feared him. The elk attacked him furiously, 

 and killed him before he could be rescued. 



Men who have charge of deer herds must keep 

 the bucks in a perpetual state of fear. Do not 

 make a pet of any male member of the Deer 

 Family after it is two years old. It is dangerous. 

 In the autumn or winter, never enter an en- 

 closure containing deer, elk or caribou unless 

 armed with a pitchfork, or a long pole of tough 

 wood, with an iron spike in the end. If a buck 

 threatens to attack you, strike him across the 

 nose; for that is his tender spot. When angry 

 he can take any amount of punishment on the 



