174 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONERS OF 



When the deer hears the hounds and finds that one of them is on his track, the 

 animal bounds away with an easy gait. A deer can easily outrun a hound. The 

 hound is a slow-running, stupid animal, following with his nose near the ground, and 

 occasionally losing the scent through some artifice of the deer. The latter circles 

 and doubles on his own track, and after running awhile will lie down and rest. But 

 the Adirondack hound is tireless and persistent. The deer cannot rest long before 

 the continuous barking of the hound again reaches his ear, and the " race " is 

 resumed. If it is a young, active doe, the chase will be a long one ; through the 

 speed and cunning of the doe the hound may be baffled, and having lost the trail the 

 tired and foot-sore dog returns to the starting place in search of his master. But if 

 it is a heavy buck, or if the deer has a swift, keen-scented hound after it, the game 

 will run to some stream or lake where, by swimming or wading along the shore, 

 " coasting " as it is called, it can throw the dog off the scent. Some hounds, however, 

 on following a trail to water will swim also, and after crossing the stream or pond 

 will, by working awhile, pick up the lost trail. The method of hunting called 

 hounding is based on this well-known trait of the deer, this instinct which prompts 

 it to seek the water when hard pressed by dogs. 



The scent left by a deer on its track is caused for the most part, if not entirely, 

 by the presence of an interdigital gland in each foot, which emits a pungent, disagree- 

 able odor. It may seem strange that nature should endow an animal with a function 

 that would lead to its destruction ; but it must be remembered that the scent left by 

 these same glands enables the animals to find each other when the sexes intermingle, 

 and thus becomes an important agent in the reproduction and survival of the species. 

 Nature does not provide against artificial conditions, and the use of hounds is an 

 artifice of the hunter as well as his breech-loading rifle. 



As before stated, a hound cannot catch a deer ; that is, the kind of hound used 

 in the Adirondacks. Some of the opposition to the law permitting the use of hounds 

 is based on an idea that the dogs overtake the deer, spring upon the game, fasten 

 their teeth in its neck or body, pull it down to the ground, and there mangle and tear 

 the defenseless creature. This is all nonsense. The hound cannot catch the deer. 

 Sometimes a stag is brought to bay by several hounds ; or, perhaps, allows them to 

 approach, preferring to fight with them. In such instances the dogs content them- 

 selves with barking at the deer, and taking care to keep out of reach of his antlers 

 and sharp hoofs. A few years ago there was a tame deer, a pet deer, in Olmstead- 

 ville, Essex county, which could whip any dog in the village, and it ran at large 

 through the town with perfect safety. Once, while catching a live doe in a lake and 

 holding it by a "noose-pole," I was surprised to see a hound, which suddenly made 



