The Coconino sun., 1926-08-27
AMONG THE DEER
NEXT MONTH
By G. E. Sturdevant
Ranger Naturalist

The coming month will mark the
start of a change in the deer herds
in the Grand Canyon park. The red
dish brown coats of the deer, espec-
tally the bucks, will start to change
from the summer color of reddish
brown to blue. 1t is the beginning of
what the Indians call "the period of
the blue MOON" This change is real
ly dressing up process for ths court
ing season which is some weeks away.
During this time the horns will hard
en- and the velvet will be polished off
by rubbing against small trees and
brush. This constant charging and
rubbing of horns in the brush also
serves to harden the animals muscles
for the terrific battles he will prob
ably have to fight during the height
of the social season.
That terrible battles have been
fought in the silences of the great
Kaibab forest, is amply proved by
existing records. A short time ago
there was found grim reminder of
one of these battles in which death
was the only victor. Rangers on pa
troll came across the skeletons of two
deer close together, and upon inves-
tigation, found that during the fight
their horns had become so tightly
locked together that they were not
able to separate, starvation evidently
ending the fight. A photograph of
this unique exhibit has just been re-
ceived on the south rim.
Two of the park rangers at the
north rim station have lived practi-
cally their entire lives around the
Kaibab deer herd and have witnessed
several of these great duels. How
ever, the most dramatic on record is
one witnessed by Ranger Fred john
son and two companions in November,
1917. While riding through the woods
they came upon two bucks with their
horns locked together and both were
nearly exhausted. The older and
larger buck was lying upon the
ground where his weight bowed the
head of his young rival. Realizing
that both deer would soon perish UNI
less released, they attempted to part
them Well aimed rocks failed to
break the horns, so as last resort
one horn of the down deer was splin-
tered about six inches from the base
by rifle bullet. However, this did
not effect the release, and it was nec-
essary to break the tips of the other
horn with rocks. Realizing that the
animal still standing was soon to be
released, Johnson and his friends
sought refuge in some nearby trees.
The freed buck paid no attention to
the spectators. He shook his head,
hooked his rival in the flank, and
then stamped him with his fore feet.
At last standing over the PROSTATE
deer on the ground, the younger buck
lifted his head, shifted the air and
then trotted away from his dying adj
versary.
Ranger Arthur Brown at the same
station once came upon a scene of a
battle after both of the principals
were dead One buck had fastened
his horns in the ribs of his opponent,
and was unable to free himself. After
killing his rival, he himself had faced
slow and terrible death by starva
ton.
These and other observations show
conclusively that when battles take
place during the mating season, they
dIG uIS1S W uSdtIl, anu oil par IIS1-
pants recognize them as such. On a
still night the clash of the horns can
be heard for long distance through
the forest, and observations of scenes
of fights show that the ground is
torn up and in some cases even small
trees are uprooted. Only when the
defeated deer is faster runner than
his opponent, do both survive the
fight. Thus it is seen that even
among wild animals, footwork is a
valuable asset in a fight.