NATURAL HISTORY. 



When a bird or a wild animal is killed, that's the end of it. If photographed, it may still live and its educational 



and scientific value is multiplied indefinitely. 



DO DOES LEAD? 



I noticed Mr. Sperry's letter in August 

 Recreation. I have had much experience 

 with big game during the last few years, 

 working as collector for several museums 

 and studying animals in their natural 

 haunts for, the purpose of perfecting myself 

 in taxidermy. My observations may, there- 

 fore, be of some value to Mr. Sperry. 



With elk it is a fact that an old cow 

 leads the bunch. The bulls always stay in 

 the rear. I have often seen them with their 

 noses out and horns thrown back along 

 their sides, trying to follow the cows 

 through the quakers, or small pines. With 

 deer it is about the same. I spent 2 years 

 in Routt county, Colo., without doubt the 

 greatest deer country in the world. I 

 learned that does, fawns and young bucks 

 stay together, and old bucks go in bunches 

 by themselves. Antelope work a great deal 

 like sheep and goats and seem to have no 

 regular leader while feeding. When they 

 go to water, sometimes a buck leads, some- 

 times a doe ; but in either case it is always 

 an old animal. As for any big game pro- 

 tecting its young, I have never seen it at- 

 tempted. All they think of is themselves 

 and their own safety. When they are fright- 

 ened it is always the swiftest one that leads, 

 be it doe or buck. Bert R. Beymer, 



Omar, Colo. 



After living 21 years in the mountains of 

 Montana and Idaho I am of opinion that 

 neither deer nor elk have recognized lead- 

 ers. The frightened dash of a bunch of 

 either of those animals is usually led by a 

 doe, but only because the bucks have more 

 curiosity and linger an instant to locate 

 the cause of the alarm. I have often 

 watched bands coming out of the mountains. 

 When the animal in advance stopped a 

 moment to feed, another would take its 

 place, and so on until all the individuals in 

 the band had been, for a time, leaders. 

 Horses are the only animals which have 

 regular leaders. Even they will not al- 

 ways follow. In that case the leading horse 

 gets behind the others and drives them 

 where he wants them. I have seen does 

 protect their fawns, but never but once 

 saw a buck show fight for any cause. He 

 was a whitetail and was badly wounded. 



There is no game on the mountains that 

 will fight if it has a chance to run. This 

 region is full of bear, mountain lions and 

 panthers but the only brute in it with grit 

 enough to attack a man is the mosquito. 

 Neither boards, netting, canvas nor 

 smudge smoke will stop him; unless you 



break his back with a club he is bound to 

 get you. V. Emerick, Boise, Ida. 



A doe usually leads a band of elk. 

 Twenty years ago elk were exceedingly 

 abundant here. I was then carrying Uncle 

 Sam's mail on horseback through the 

 mountains and often saw several bands in 

 a day. It was not uncommon to see an old 

 cow leading a bunch. After running time, 

 which begins here with the full moon in 

 August and continues through September, 

 the old bulls leave the band and do not re- 

 turn until spring. Spike bucks and occa- 

 sionally forked horns remain with the 

 bands through the winter. We have no 

 deer save blacktails, and they do not band. 

 X., Hill Lake Harbor, Ore. 



In reply to Lyman B. Sperry, would say 

 I spent the summer of 1897 in Oregon, and 

 had a good chance to study the habits of 

 deer. I have often watched for deer at 

 the licks and noticed that the does always 

 led. The bucks came leisurely in the rear. 

 When danger threatened the buck would 

 give warning and allow the doe to escape 

 first. These habits were first brought to 

 my notice by William Asher, an old hunter 

 and guide of West Fork, Ore., who has 

 spent his life in the wilds of that country. 

 F. W. Weisman, Swanton, Vt. 



My experience gained during a 22 years' 

 residence in the Big Horn Basin convinces 

 me that does always lead. Bucks are al- 

 ways in the rear or near the rear of the 

 band. This applies to elk, deer and ante- 

 lope. Among the half-wild range cattle 

 either a cow or a steer leads, usually the 

 former ; a bull never. 



Otto Franc, Meeteetsee, Wyo. 



RECENT ARRIVALS AT THE NEW YORK 

 ZOO PARK. 



Mammals. — 2 Canadian Beaver, gift of 

 Hugh J. Chisholm ; 1 Florida Deer, gift 

 of Mrs. Arthur Duane ; 1 Bonneted Ma- 

 caque, from Ceylon, gift of Mrs. F. Cor- 

 des ; 1 Capuchin Monkey, Bolivia, gift of 

 Mrs. George H. Bridgman; 1 Capuchin 

 Monkey, gift of Master Willie Samuels; 

 1 Pinche, gift of Miss Miriam S. Coe; 

 1 Fox Squirrel, gift of Mrs. G. A. Gep- 

 pert; 1 Family of 7 Opossums, gift of 

 H. C. Wells; 1 Red Fox, gift of Ferdi- 

 nand Kaegebehn ; 1 Squirrel Monkey and 

 Coati Mundi, gift of F. N. Koziell; 1 

 Three-Toed Sloth and 1 Two-Toed Sloth, 

 from British Guiana, in exchange; 2 

 Orang-Outans, from Borneo, purchased; 1 



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