DEER HYBRIDS. 45 



My experience does not coincide with that of some other breeders in respect 

 to the weakening of reproductive powers of deer by their confinement in parks. 

 I have no barren does. Usually they produce a single fawn at 2 years of age ; 

 afterwards twins, and, in rare cases, triplets. 



INCREASE OF WHITE-TAILED DEER IN DOMESTICATION. 



Early in 1900 a pet doe heavy with fawn was delivered at the 

 Tane}^ County, Mo., game preserve belonging to the St. Louis Park 

 and Agricultural Company. The doe had been thoroughly domesti- 

 cated, and, refusing to join the wild deer in the preserve, remained 

 near the home of the tenant and under the immediate care of his 

 family. In the spring of 1900 she gave birth to two fawns, both does, 

 which became as gentle as the mother. In the spring of 1901 the 

 old doe again dropped 2 fawns. In 1902 there was an increase of 

 4 fawns, each of the young of 1900 having given birth to a fawn. 

 By the spring of 1905 the domestic herd had increased to 25 deer, 

 all the increase of 1 pet doe. & 



A herd of mule deer at Crawfordsville, Ind., has increased with 

 almost equal rapidity. These deer belong to James F. Boots, and 

 are kept in a 4-acre inclosure. Mr. Boots writes that in 1899 he 

 brought a buck fawn from Colorado, and nearly four years later he 

 secured 2 adult does. From this stock he has had fawns as follows : 

 1904, 4; 1905, 4; 1906, 8; 1907, 10; 1908, 5; 1909, 10; from the 5 does 

 then kept. All were raised except those born in 1908, the loss of 

 which was attributed to excessive heat. 



DEER HYBRIDS. 



However undesirable hybrids among wild animals may be regarded 

 by naturalists, the production of them among domesticated or semi- 

 domesticated species is of great economic importance. The experi- 

 ments of breeders in hybridizing deer, aside from the apparent value 

 of the results obtained, are highly interesting. Mention has already 

 been made of hybrids between the American wapiti and the red deer 

 as well as the Altai wapiti. The first of these crosses was obtained 

 by the Prince of Pless, in Silesia, about a half century ago. 



Judge Caton made experiments at Ottawa, 111., and obtained a 

 number of hybrids, the most important being those between the Vir- 

 ginia deer and the Acapulco deer {Odocoileus toltecus) and between 

 the Virginia deer and the Ceylon deer (Cervus axis). These deer 

 exhibited no natural tendency to breed together, but when the male 

 of the exotic species was absent or accidentally lost he introduced 

 the buck of the Virginia deer. 



a Cf. Caton, J. D., Antelope and Deer of North America, p. 304, 1877. 

 6 Second Annual Report Missouri Game and Fish Warden, p. 20, 1907. 



