456 



THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



table-land, and west to Lower California and 

 the coast of California. Within these limits 

 they inhabit different types of country, from 

 the deciduous forests along streams on the 

 eastern border of the Great Plains to the open 

 pine forests of the high western mountains, the 

 chaparral-covered hillsides of southern Cali- 

 fornia, and the thickets of mesquites, acacias, 

 and cactuses on the hot and arid plains of 

 Sonora. Several geographic races of this deer 

 have resulted from these varied conditions. 



In spring in the Rocky Mountains the does 

 leave the bands with which they have passed 

 the winter and seek undisturbed retreats among 

 forest glades or along scantily wooded slopes 

 of canyons, where they have two or three hand- 

 somely spotted fawns with which they remain 

 apart throughout the summer. 



The bucks usually keep by themselves during 

 the summer, in parties rarely exceeding ten. As 

 their horns lose the velvet and the mating sea- 

 son draws near, the old bucks gather in bands 

 of from six to ten. 



At this time they are in perfect physical con- 

 dition, and a band of them in the open forest, 

 their antlers held proudly aloft and their glossy 

 coats shining in the sun, presents a superb pic- 

 ture. They have little of the protective cau- 

 tion so characteristic of the white-tails, and 

 when a shot is fired at a band they often begin 

 a series of extraordinary ''buck jumps," bound- 

 ing high in the air, facing this way and that, 

 sometimes not taking flight until after several 

 additional shots have been fired. These high, 

 bounding leaps are characteristic of mule deer 

 and are commonly made when the animals are 

 suddenly alarmed and often when they are in 

 full flight through brushy thickets. 



After the mating season, bucks and does join 

 in bands, sometimes of fifteen or twenty, and 

 descend to the foothills and sometimes even to 

 the adjacent plains. Their preference, how- 

 ever, is for rough and broken country, such as 

 that of canyon-cut mountains or the deeply 

 scored badlands of the upper Missouri River. 



These deer are not good runners in the open. 

 On several occasions, on level country in Ari- 

 zona, I have ridden after and readily overtaken 

 parties of them within a mile, their heaving 

 flanks and open mouths showing their distress. 

 The moment rough country was reached, how- 

 ever, with amazing celerity a series of mighty 

 leaps carried them away from me over decliv- 

 ities impossible for a horse. 



The sight of a party of these splendid deer 

 bounding away through the aisles of a moun- 

 tain forest always quickens one's pulse and 

 gives the finishing touch of wildness to the 

 scene. Mule deer are characteristic animals of 

 the beautiful open forests and forest parks of 

 the Rocky Mountains and the high Sierras, 

 where they may be perpetuated if given rea- 

 sonable protection. 



BLACK-TAILED DEER (Odocoileus 



columbianus and its subspeck>) 



In general appearance the black-tails have a 

 close resemblance to the mule deer, but average 



smaller. They have the same large ears, 

 forked tines to the antlers, and rather "stocky" 

 body; but the brushy all-black tail distinguishes 

 them from any other American deer. In color 

 they have much the same shade of brown as 

 the Virginia deer. They have the usual cycle 

 of annual changes common to most American 

 deer — assuming a dull coat in fall and losing 

 their horns in winter, followed by the resump- 

 tion of a brighter coat in spring and the re- 

 newal of their horns in summer. 



The black-tails have one of the most re- 

 stricted ranges among our deer. They are 

 limited to the humid heavily forested belt along 

 the Pacific coast from Juneau, Alaska, south- 

 ward to the Coast range in central California. 

 This coastal belt is characterized by superb 

 growths of cedars, spruces, and firs in the 

 north and by redwoods and firs in the south, 

 uniting to make one of the most magnificent 

 forest areas in the world. Here the deer live 

 in the midst of rank undergrowths of gigantic 

 ferns and other vegetation, as luxuriant in 

 many places as that of the humid tropics. 



Their home on the abruptly rising slopes of 

 the islands in the Alaskan Archipelago is so 

 restricted that both in summer and winter they 

 fall an easy prey to native and white hunters. 

 It has been reported that there has been much 

 wasteful killing of the deer on these islands 

 for commercial purposes. When the heavy 

 snows of winter on the islands force the deer 

 down to the shore, great numbers of them are 

 also killed by wolves. 



Black-tails commonly have two or three 

 young, and this fecundity, combined with the 

 effective protection given by the dense forest 

 where many of them live, will aid in their per- 

 petuation. At the same time they have not 

 developed the mental alertness of the Virginia 

 deer, and there is imminent need for prompt 

 and effective action in safeguarding the deer 

 in the Alaskan part of their range if their 

 extermination on some of the islands is to be 

 prevented. In this northern region the black- 

 tails share their range with strange tribes of 

 coastal Indians, whose huge sea-going canoes, 

 totem poles, and artistic carvings are unique 

 among native Americans. 



VIRGINIA, OR WHITE-TAILED, DEER 



(Odocoileus virginianus and its sub- 

 species) 



The aptness of the name "white-tail" for the 

 Virginia deer is obvious to any one who has 

 startled one in the forest and seen it dash away 

 with the tail upright and flashing vivid white 

 signals at every leap. The adults have two 

 strongly contrasted coats each year : brownish 

 gray in winter and rusty red in summer. The 

 fawns, usually two in number, are dull rusty 

 brown, marked with a series of large white 

 spots, which remain until the gray winter coat 

 is assumed in the fall. Large bucks sometimes 

 attain a weight of more than 300 pounds. 



The white-tail is the well-known deer of all 

 the forest areas in eastern North America. 

 With its close relatives, it ranges from north- 



