The Caldwell tribune. [volume] (Caldwell, Idaho Territory [Idaho]) 1883-1928, 1898-10-08
FATE OF MAINE DEER.
A SINGLE LOCALITY SHOWS A
TERRIBLE STORY.
Deep snow Brings starvation-while
Weak from Hunger NeIghbOrhoOd Dogs
Destroy the Beautiful Creatures in
Great Numbers.

uau dfTlVeQ IN GeWlSLOn ITOm
Swift the other forenoon, who says
that the deep snow and crust of the lat
ter part of the winter have cost the
lives of thousands of deer in the north
ern part of Maine. This man is Mr..
Joseph Vincent of Lewiston, who has
passed the winter with his team and
few men logging at Swift river, says
the Lewiston Journal. He told a
story of butchery that almost equaled
the story of Senator Proctor in its pic
turesqueness of woe. "In the region
of our camp at Swift river were per-
haps dozen yards of deer containing
from eight to fifteen deer. When the
winter closed down and the snow came
they were all as fat and rugged-look-
ing as butter balls. We used to see
them about the woods in the fall and
they yarded in. the thick trees where
they could get plenty Of tree branches
to eat. The snow came down heavy
and shut them in. They could not get
out of their yard paths without floun-
dering in the snow. Ordinarily they
can wade out and make new paths and
tracks, but this year the snow was so
deep that when they tried to get out
they merely stuck in the snow and had
to struggle back into the yard as best
they could. The result was that they
ate up all the green stuff that there was
TO be had and then starved. Some Of
those that found within few weeks
back were so poor that their bones
stuck out of their hides, almost. We
have had to haul hay into the camp
the last of the season and for that pur-
pose have built roads through the
snow. The hay, of course, would fall
OF and be torn of by the branches of
the trees and scattered along the wood
road. Well, after the first crust came
on which the deer could walk in the
early mornings they came out of their
yards on it and scattered all through
the woods, eating everything ravenous
ly. They came to the wood road where
our hay was scattered along the way
and they just camped down there.
They stayed till late in the forenoon
and when the crust melted they could
not walk back to their yards on it.
Then they continued to follow along
the road till they came to the camp
where we sometimes took pity on the
poor half-starved things and gave
them food. But our greatest surprise
was when we were hauling in hay one
morning-the first time that the crust
on the snow would holland saw a
lot of the deer ahead of us in the snowy
road. We had seen them in the fall
drisking through the woods like shad-
ows, and we supposed that they would
fee from us now, but they did not.
They waited till we came up and one
only tried to get out of the path, he go
ing into the snow to the hips and wal
lowing there helpless. The rest stood
still, jamming out of the way and let
ting us pass so near that they were
touched by our hands when we passed.
A little distance ahead of us they pre-
scented a beautiful picture and were APP
parently we'll. But when we came up
to them it was revealed why they so
patiently waited to let US come up.
They were starving. They bit eagerly
at the hay as we passed them by. And
one or two followed us and ate off of
the rear Of the load. But such pathetic
sights you never have seen in your
life. They were as poor as poor could
be. Their eyes stuck out at the APP
pearance Of the hay, and while they ex-
hlblted every appearance of extreme
terror at our appearance they never
theless let us approach. They had
come out Of their yards in the early
morning while the snow was frozen
hard and had found the trail. When
they tried to go back the crust was
melted and they could not go.
''But do not think that that is the
worst feature of this winters deep.
snow. found that the dogs were MAX
ing havoc with the deer all over that
region and from reports that I have of
the region farther east and north I
should say that the same is true of the
entire upper part of the state. One
morning l found four dead deer beside
the road where they had been killed by
the dogs They were bitten about the
neck and torn till they fell down from
loss Of blood and were then destroyed.
But they are not eaten wholly-in fact,
the dogs devOured only the hams Of
their hind legs. They then left them
and went after more deer to kill.
''In one place I found three deer
alive but so hopelessly torn and LAGER
ated that they died before my eyes.
The dogs had thrown them down and
eaten their hams while they were still
living and then gone away and left
them there. These dogs could chase
deer on the crust when the poor deer
would slump through the snow.
Elm one place near our camp found