Connecticut western news., 1916-01-06
Save the Deer.
itor of The News:

Mlnn.. inquired aDont Con- necticut deer. He wonders where they came from so suddenly. No wonder he is surprised. Many men now liv- ing reached middle age without seeing a wild deer in Connecticut and they will live to see tie last of them if the foolish law on the stutute books is not repealed. The deer came because they found ill Connecticut a refuge where they were protected. and they will go because that protection is entirely withdrawn.
 I wish to point out the short-sighted. ness of the present law. l hear that it was framed tn protect the farmer from the ravages Of the deer. The question is. how much harm do deer do The big howl has gone up from two sources: from the man who is incompetent and who lays his poor success as a farmer to the Almighty and his creatures, snd from the man who is itching to get at the deer
 I have made a rather careful study of deer and their food for years in Geological collections, and for the last five years here ill Connecticut with deer in the wild state. Any one who will take the trouble to follow q deer when there is snow on the ground, aud will carefully observe his browsing will find the following foods in the order of his liking for them-Prostrate yew, sometimes called ground hemlock he will eat every scrap of that that he can get; suinac berries, frozen apples, hemlock twigs, arbor vitae, twigs of several deciduous trees and shrubs, including apple. This last is his. only serious destructive taste. However, the protection which one is obliged to give to young trees against rabbits could be carried higher and give protection against the deer. Deer are fond of apples and will travel miles to some old apple tree to gel the frozen fruit. They are also fond of buck wheat. But to show how exaggerated are the reports of damage, will relate an experiment. of mine.
 Iplaced Il peck of apples in pile at the edge of my garden, and three deer came out of the woods and ate apples for a little over half an hour. They then left quietly, for they were not disturbed or frightened. On examining the apples I found that less than half peck had been eaten, though the deer had eaten steadily all that time.
 Another observation of mine was with field of young rye. I saw them feeding in this field of about two acres every evening for about week. At the end of that time the owner of the field and I went over the whole field. following their tracks, but could ind no trace of their having eaten the rye. The explanation is that they had been eating weeds. If you will notice the foods they like-hemlock, ground yew, sumac berries-all have sour or acrid taste. Deer will leave field of grass and eat the weeds among the grass. l have observed this where deer are in captivity.
 realize that the deer should be kept down in number but this could be done by framing a law making 1t unlawful for man to shoot anything but buck with antlers. This would protect the deer enough to insure the race from ex- termination. One metal tag, with number corresponding with the number of his license, should he given to each man who takes out a license. This should be attached to the carcass of the deer immediately after it was shot. so there would be little chance to evade the law.
 This law would also protect the hunters, for if man was obliged to see his quarry plainly enough to see whether or not he had antlers, he could also see whether he was shooting deer or a man. If the papers are perused during the open season for deer it will be realized that deer hunting in New York and New Jersey is about as dangerous for the hunter and the in- nocent bystander as for the deer.
 The legislation is very short. sighted the cities are coming out into the rural districts ofConnecticut, bringing money, building homes, and so adding wealth to the state. Few come to farm it, compared with those who are attracted by our, hills, lakes and streams. One of the great attractions of Litchfield county-I can testify, for I was one who was lured from the city-was the deer q say was" advisedly) You tell a man that deer actually came into his very door yard if he lives in Con- necticut, and it is a big lure to the cramped city dweller who must travel across town in a crowded trolley or sub- way to see a few creatures in cages. I feel that I would not have come but for the deer. The deer are like our hills and lakes-a beautiful natural feature-and we should hesitate to exterminate them as we would hesitate (were it possible) to remove our hills to make more farming land, or drain Twin Lakes to raise celery.
 But we are in fair way to exter- minate them. Last winter the hill back of Twin Doors harbored at least eight, and yesterday I tramped the whole hill over and did not find a 1a