i8 
MAMMALIA. 
the summer garb, the hairs are short, fine, and soft; but they 
rapidly grow in length and diameter, and undergo the changes of 
color peculiar to the species. At first they lie down smoothly, but 
presently the diameter becomes so great, that they force each other 
up to a more vertical position, or at right angles to the skin. As 
the diameters increase, the cavities within enlarge and become filled 
with a very light pith, and they become brittle and lose their elas- 
ticity, so that the integrity of the walls is destroyed when sharply 
bent, and they remain in the given position.”* * 
The exact period ot shedding and of renewal of the coat varies 
somewhat from year to year; and it does not always take place at the 
same time in all the Deer of the region, during the same season. It 
evidently depends in great measure, il not wholly, upon the condition 
of the animal at the time oi the moult, and this is determined mainly 
by the way the Deer wintered. After severe winters many are poor 
and ill conditioned, and they do not put on the red coat till late in 
June, or even till the first ot July, — the blue being correspondingly 
delayed. If, on the other hand, the winter has been a mild one, and 
the supply of beech-nuts large, the Deer have probably wintered well, 
and come out fat and healthy in the spring. In this case they shed 
the old gray coats early, and the red may be seen covering a large 
part of the animal by the middle of June, or even earlier. These 
Deer assume the blue coat very early, and the change may be well 
advanced by the last of August. 
Deer rut in November, the season commonly extending from the 
latter part of October till the first week in December. As this period 
approaches, the necks ol the bucks become enormously enlarged, f 
and their whole demeanor is changed. Instead of treading cautious 
ly through the forest they now rush wildy about, tracking the does 
* Antelope and Deer of America, pp. 126-127. 
•) As early as the last week in October I measured the neck of a buck that was 30 inches (762mm) 
in circumference, only ten inches behind the ears. The maximum development is attained about 
the middle of November. 
