13 



head, and with the present restrictions on sale, low prices are likely to 

 continue. A few years ago T. J. Wilson, of Lewisburg, Ohio, paid 

 $165 for three animals. A Michigan breeder recently offered to de- 

 liver a dozen head, sex and age not given, all fine specimens, for $500. 

 This is, of course, a low price, not more than cattle would bring and 

 less than the venison would be worth if it could be sold. If restric- 

 tions on the sale and shipment of venison from private preserves 

 were removed, prices of the stock would, of course, soon advance, and 

 necessitate a greater outlay in starting the business. 



Vicious male elk. — The male elk is ordinarily docile, but in the rut- 

 ting season the older ones often become ill-tempered and dangerous. 

 Several tragedies connected with attempts to domesticate elk are 

 matters of history. One was recorded by Judge Caton in his Ante- 

 lope and Deer of America as having occurred in his own park. 

 Another took place at Bull City, Osborne County, Kans., in October, 

 1879, and resulted in the instant death of Gen. H. C. Bull, the mortal 

 w^ounding of two other men, and the serious injury of another, 

 from the attacks of an infuriated bull elk that had previously been 

 regarded as extremely gentle. 



Wild and unconfined deer and elk flee from man under nearly all 

 circumstances, but when wounded and closely pressed they have been 

 known to attack hunters. It is unlikely that, even in the rutting 

 season, a wild bull elk would attack a human being. But the tame or 

 partially tame animals that have become familiar with man are to be 

 feared and should not be approached in that season without extreme 

 caution. A male elk or deer that has once shown viciousness can not 

 again be trusted. 



The remedy for viciousness in the male elk is castration. It is 

 unsafe to keep an uncastrated male elk over 1 years old, unless he is 

 in a strongly fenced inclosure from which visitors are excluded. 

 The effects of castration are to make the animal docile and to greatly 

 enhance his value for venison. This is in accord with observed re- 

 sults in the production of beef, pork, and mutton. Venison grown 

 in domestication under a system in which the male animals intended 

 for slaughter are castrated should be uniformly of the highest grade 

 and far superior to that obtained in the wild state during the usual 

 open season for hunting. This consideration is of the greatest 

 importance in fixing the final status of venison grown under domesti- 

 cation. 



BREEDING THE VIRGINIA DEER. 



The Virginia, or whitetail, deer (Odocoileus virginianus) is the 

 common deer of the United States. Includino^ the half dozen seo- 

 graphic races that occur within our borders, it is distributed over 

 . most of the country, except Nevada and the major portions of Utah, 



330 



