XXII 
THE DEER 
205 
“ velvet,” also becomes dry and leathery. As 
the blood-vessels contract and wither, an itching 
is set up; this encourages the animal to rub its 
antlers against some tolerably yielding surface, 
that will by degrees detach the irritating cause. 
The deer generally seeks a sapling of about an 
inch in diameter for its first rubbing post, as the 
horns are still delicate. In a few days, having 
destroyed several of these yielding stems, it 
ventures upon a tougher material, until at length 
it has no choice, and boldly rubs the last 
adhering strings of velvet from its horns against 
the rough bark of some old birch, or any tree 
that will assist to cleanse its antlers from the 
irritating substance. 
When the large horns of sambur or wapiti 
are growing, they make an excellent dish; first 
scalded to divest them of the down, and then 
gently stewed with a good sauce and a few 
vegetables. 
If a deer is badly hurt during the growth of 
antlers, there will generally be some deformity in 
the shape of one, or perhaps both. Any 
accident to the horns while young in velvet has 
a direct effect upon the antlers, and will set up 
a local inflammation, which interferes with the 
ripening of the horn. I have seen a stag which 
had two peculiarly curved tines of great length ; 
these had interfered with its progress through 
the woods (in America), and had evidently 
caught among the branches like a grapnel. 
