CHAP. IL] ROEBUCKS—FAWNS. 19 
that time of the year is more ravenous than at any other, as it 
then has to find food to satisfy the carnivorous appetites of its own 
cubs. A young roe, when caught unhurt, is not difficult to rear, 
though their great tenderness and delicacy of limb makes it not 
easy to handle them without injuring them. They soon become 
perfectly tame and attach themselves to their master. When in 
captivity they will eat almost anything that is offered to them, 
and from this cause are frequently destroyed, picking up and 
swallowing some indigestible substance about the house. A 
tame buck, however, becomes a dangerous pet; for after 
attaining to his full strength he is very apt to make use of 
it in attacking people whose appearance he does not like. They 
particularly single out women and children as their victims, and 
inflict severe and dangerous wounds with their slarp-pointed 
horns, and notwithstanding their small size, their strength and 
activity make them a very unpleasant adversary. One day, at 
a kind of public garden near Brighton, I saw a beautiful but 
very small roebuck in an enclosure fastened with a chain, which 
seemed strong enough and heavy enough to hold and weigh 
down an elephant. VPitying the poor animal, an exile from his 
native land, I asked what reason they could have for ill-using 
him by putting such a weight of iron about his neck. The 
keeper of the place, however, told me that small as the roebuck 
was, the chain was quite necessary, as he had attacked and killed 
a boy of twelve years old a few days before, stabbing the poor 
fellow in fifty places with his sharp-pointed horns. Of course I 
had no more to urge in his behalf. In its native wilds no animal 
is more timid, and eager to avoid all risk of danger. The roe 
has peculiarly acute organs of sight, smelling and hearing, and 
makes good use of all three in avoiding its enemies. 
In shooting roe, it depends so much on the cover, and other 
local causes, whether dogs or beaters should be used, that no 
rule can be laid down as to which is best. Nothing is more ex- 
citing than running roe with beagles, where the ground is suit- 
able, and the covers so situated that the dogs and their game are 
frequently in sight. The hounds for roe-shooting should be 
small and slow. Dwarf harriers are the best, or good sized 
rabbit-beagles, where the ground is not too rough. The roe 
when hunted by small dogs of this kind does not make away, but 
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