Mule- Deer 



273 



They also trot well. A mule-deer with a broken hind-leg is capable of 

 wonderful speed downhill, and should a fore-leg be broken, a fast horse 

 must gallop to catch it on level ground. In horizontal leaping these deer 

 surpass all animals with which I am acquainted, and for ability to traverse 

 a rough country there is little to choose between them and their neighbours 

 the mountain -sheep. On the other hand, when frequenting the fenced 



Fig. 72.— Obli que view of Head of Mule-Deer. (Rowland Ward, Records of Big G/itne.} 



pastures of deserted ranches, for which they have a great inclination, they 

 invariably crawl under, or squeeze through the wires instead of jumping 

 over them. They are very similar to range-horses in their habits, and the 

 herds, small or large, will frequent a tract of about ten miles in diameter, 

 watering at the same place every day if left undisturbed. Like mountain- 

 sheep, they love to lie sheltered from the wind, on the narrow ledges of 

 the high buttes, commanding the view all round, except to windward, from 



2 N 



