THE GUN AT HOME AND ABROAD 
spirit of the northern mountains. The giant moose, the white -necked 
caribou and the magnificent wapiti are all fascinating creatures in their 
own habitat, but for dignity of movement none of them can compare with 
our red stag as he moves along the hillside. 
Wherever it is possible Red deer prefer to live in the shelter of the woods, 
from whence they come to the open glades and hillsides to feed at dawn 
and sunset. All day long they lie securely hidden, or browse fitfully on 
certain trees. In summer they rest nearly the whole day and only feed 
in the cool hours of evening, and night, and early morning. 
Red deer are adaptable creatures, and where woods are wanting they 
soon learn which hillsides and carries give them shelter from the winds 
of winter. They may often be seen migrating in big herds from one valley 
to another on the approach of or during a storm. There is no doubt, how- 
ever, that woods, although not essential for shelter, are of the greatest 
value to deer, because if the firs are interspersed with deciduous trees it 
gives them browsing in the severest months, when the open grounds are 
almost devoid of food. It is well to remember this when planting, as too 
many of the recently made coverts of the north are firs, and firs alone. 
Deer will only eat fir branches when there is no other tree -food available. 
They will eat Scots fir, Douglas and Austrian pine if thrown down for 
them in spring, but soon tire of it, whilst if it is found at all times they will 
hardly touch it at all. The trees they like best to strip are ash, chestnut, 
hazel, oak, and thorn, whilst the young leaves and shoots of birch and rowan 
are eaten at all seasons. Chestnuts, both horse and sweet, and acorns are 
a favourite food in the autumn and early winter, and it is a pretty sight 
to see a stag rearing up and thrashing the branches with his antlers to 
make the acorns or chestnuts fall. In the open they eat several kinds of 
moss as well as grass, young heather and blaeberry and bearberry plants. 
Deer do not feed very close as sheep do, and sometimes roam over a con- 
siderabie area in their feeding hours. In consequence they leave tufts which 
soon become oid and wiry, and thus pasture frequented only by deer is apt 
to become sour unless grazed by other animals, such as cattle of the rough - 
feeding kind, namely, Welsh or West Highland. 
Some years ago the experiment of feeding off the rough grass was 
tried in one of the vaileys of the Black Mount and the result, as far as 
improving the grass was concerned, was more or less good. In other 
forests, too, in Ross -shire, the same thing has been tried, both with sheep 
and cattle, but foresters have always experienced some difficulty in 
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