THE GIANT DEER. 9 



general name of " bog " to every place where peat is cut for fuel. But while Porte 

 stated that he was not able to learn of a single case of the Irish Deer being found in a 

 real bog, Kinahan (79), as a result of his inquiry into the question, was convinced 

 that the remains are sometimes found in peat. L It is pointed out by Adams (1878) (63) 

 that it is in the marly deposits or blue clay found at the bottom of the numerous lakes 

 now silted up, which existed in Ireland prior to the period of peat formation, that 

 the Megaceros remains chiefly occur. 



Kinahan refers to the occurrence of Megaceros in esker gravels in cos. Meath and 

 Galway. Porte describes remains found beneath lacustrine deposits embedded 

 among water- worn boulders. 



b. Possible Explanations of the Co-occurrence of Numbers of Skeletons. 



The co-occurrence of a number of skeletons has sometimes been attributed to 

 the animals having entered the water to wallow, or to escape the plague of flies at 

 certain seasons of the year, and being unable to get out ; or to their being drowned 

 while attempting to cross a frozen lake ; or to their having taken refuge in a snow- 

 drift on a frozen lake when the weight of the herd broke the ice. It is suggested by 

 Denny (40) as an explanation of the remarkable numbers of Megaceros found, in 

 certain localities, that the animals formerly ranged over a wider area but were forced 

 to congregate by the gradual submergence of the land. A somewhat similar suggestion 

 had previously been made by Cumining (29) with regard to Megaceros in the Isle of 

 Man. 



More often the association of many skeletons has been thought to result from the 

 animals becoming mired, either when drinking or when fleeing from predaceous 

 enemies, such as man or wolf, as is suggested by Scouler (1838) (24). This theory, 

 as Porte (1877) (62) remarks, may be sometimes correct, but is difficult to reconcile 

 with the occasionally wide dispersal of the bones, or with the frequent finding of the 

 skulls and antlers without the rest of the skeleton, or, as is noted by Adams, with 

 the fact that none of the bones show tooth-marks. Porte considered that the Bally- 

 betagh herd could not have been mired. Had this happened, the remains would 

 have been found in the lacustrine strata, and not, as was the case, entirely below them. 

 Also, on this occasion, when the remains of 1 10 stags were found, several skulls occurred 

 together without any other bones. Such accumulations may be due to driftage. 



Adams (1880) (73), alluding to the commonly perfect condition of the antlers, 

 suggested that the animals were sometimes bogged during the rutting season, when 

 stags became much excited and took to the water in pursuit of a hind or a rival. 



' Ou the subject of the finding of Megaceros in peat Dr. ScharIT writes to me as follows : " I 

 believe where the Giant Deer has been obtained in the turf (peat) it was either washed out from 

 the marl deposit, or its original position was disturbed by bog movements such as occur in some 

 localities." 

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