Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1907-03-01
FOR THE YOUNG PEOPLE.
Papa and Mamma Deer Don't Like
to be Disturbed.
[EDITED BY HIS NIBs, sLNGF1srl.

lEDITED BY HIS NIBS, SLINGFIST1.
Did you ever chase an old hare-a
wild following behind him, with
nothing to disturb him in front? Well.
If you did-and all country boys have
you know he will go round, and round,
and round, over the same beaten track.
And that is just the way a gray fox or
deer will do in the mountains. Where
it is too rough and rugged to follow
the hounds in fox chase the huntsmen
stand on some lone, knob and by the
hour listen to the cry of the pack as
they go round and round the mountain
side. AS the Costs become less fire.
quent and the cry becomes snappy and
fierce they know the trail is warm and
that Reynard is near his death, or will
take to tree or cave soon. Then
they descend ahead of the pack and
are likely in at the finish.
1t is almost the same with deer
hunt after the game has been run some
time. You know a deer's frontlegs are
shorter than his hindlegs, and he dis
likes to run down hill-never does it if
it can be avoided. He cannot gallop
down hill, but has to pace, with an
awkward gate. Nature has fashioned
his legs of unequal length to his ad-
vantage. When first started by the
dogs he will bound up the mountain at
a rapid speed that leaves his pursuers
far in the rear. Mountain climbing is
his forte. But he will never go to the
top unless hard pushed to it, for he
knows he must descend again, and that
is where his relentless pursuers get the
better of him. He goes part of the
way up, and then strikes off on a level
around the mountain side, never de-
scending unless it is to get into stream
where he will leave no scent, and then
to go up another range. The deer
knows the difference between men and
dogs. While a man may startle him he
will run for only short distance and
stop to listen and smell. If the man is
coming along his trail he will go off
again at trot, then slow down to
listen, He will keep this up just as
long as the man is on his trail, keeping
just out of sight but hearing every
move of the man and working his
smellers for all they are worth.
One day in the wilds of Pennsylvania,
in the dead of winter, when the two
feet of snow had an ice crust upon it
and another half-foot of new fallen
snow upon that, His Nibs' party had
five-mile tramp around (or three miles
over and across) mountain range to
get to our point of survey. Soon after
starting from camp, we saw traces
under laurel bushes where deer family
had slept the night before, and the
scampering fresh tracks in the snow
made at our approach. Silently we plod-
ded along, following the tracks more be-
cause they kept on level than of any
interest in the deer, for we had not
guns but heavy surveying instruments
on our shoulders. There were the
tracks, a papa deer, a mamma deer and
two little fawns At distance of about
every four hundred yards we would
notice where they had halted, the big
tracks of the buck, stamping and spread
ing the snow showing he was in fight
ing mood, ready to defend his family,
while the baby tracks made circles
around the larger ones-evidently act
ing just like scared lamb or calf run
ming around the older ones of the
family. Then the tracks showed that
they would bound off again at our APP
proach, coming down to a trot, and
walk, and then another halt. This
kept up for the Eve miles to our point
of work, when we noticed the capers
no longer.
When spring broke and the snow had
passed away and the garlic began to
sprout, we were going over this same
mountain range one day when we came
across the carcasses of two big deer.
The horns were locked in deadly en-
brace and all but few of the bones of
the frames were lying in natural pose
to the heads. The crows and foxes had
devoured the flesh, possibly some years
before, for the bones were bleached.
Two majestic bucks had met in deadly
combat and starvation had been their
portion. The skulls and horns were
taken by us and sent to the Smithsonian
Institute at Washington. One would
think that if the horns of deer locked
in an onslaught that they could be as
easily pulled apart, but it is not so.
When the animals come together like
you have seen two sheep or goats do,
the impact causes the incorporating
antlers to spring outward and the
others inward, and, swapping back, they
clasp so tightly that human hands and
machinery can scarce unlock them. The
poor deer just ''back and fill'' until too
weak to stand longer, then sink to their
knees, and lastly to their sides, to
expire from starvation and thirst-un-
less hungry fox or other carniverous
animal chances along to gnaw upon
them until they bleed to death.
Another time will tell you of some
wild birds such as we never saw in this