THE GUN AT HOME AND ABROAD 
charging and pushing one another about. About the first week in October 
the necks of the big bucks swell, though it is not until the 25th of that 
month that we hear their unmelodious grunting cry. It can be heard at 
a distance of two miles on a still day. When the buck produces the sound 
the head is held slightly below the normal angle and jerked up slightly 
as the call is emitted. When savage, and in command of a harem, they 
trot round the does and utter a succession of defiant grunts. Having 
once gained possession of a certain number of them, the master buck 
experiences serious trouble in keeping them together. He is constantly 
challenged by wandering bachelors. These, if they mean to fight, do not 
feed, but keep moving nearer and nearer to the object of their affections 
and their guardian. Generally love and courage evaporate when the lord 
of the harem charges; but if he does not, one of these truant knights will 
stand sometimes for a whole day watching the prospect before him; 
but I have seen a new-comer run from a distance and dash straight at a 
master buck and eventually oust him. These fights last sometimes for 
quite a long time; in fact, till both combatants become so exhausted 
that they can only push one another about quite gently. It is extremely 
rare for a buck to be killed by another. If one of them is defeated he will 
sulk for days without food. 
In the rutting season the Fallow deer never exhibits any animosity 
towards human beings; and this fact makes him an interesting and safe 
ornament to our English parks. My friend, the late Sir Philip Brockle- 
hurst, tamed a buck so that it would come and lie by the breakfast table 
in the house at any season of the year. One fatal accident is, however, 
on record. This was the case of a hairdresser who, a few years ago was 
feeding the very tame Fallow deer in Greenwich Park, when one Fallow 
buck, to whom he had offered nothing, rushed at him and struck him in 
the groin. He died next day in the local hospital. This did not take place 
in the rutting season, and it may be regarded as purely accidental, and 
the result of complete lack of fear of man. 
The doe drops her fawn in the second or third week of June. She rarely 
has more than one, sometimes two and, very rarely, three. Abnormal 
fawns are occasionally dropped in the succeeding months, even as late 
as November. It is a pretty sight to see does and fawns playing games 
of romps in spring and summer. They indulge in games of “ follow my 
leader ” for hours. 
The early lives of these deer are much the same as those of the larger 
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