the pasture and the heat of the day. In warm days they feed for three or four
hours in the early morning, in the late evening, and at intervals during the day.
When it is very hot they feed but little from ten till four, but spend most of the
day lying in the shade and chewing the cud. In parks it is a good thing to
give Deer lumps of rock salt. They are also very partial to hazel, ash, and
thorn branches in the springtime, and will peel the bark off every twig.1
The usual mode of progression of Red Deer when moving fast is a long
graceful trot. They only gallop when much frightened, and this pace seems to
tire them rapidly. When lying down they drop on their knees and swing their
hind quarters beneath them, and in rising they get first upon their knees and
then raise the hind quarters before rising to their fore feet.
Both Stags and hinds rear up and strike one another with their fore feet
when angry. They also display anger by biting, kicking out behind, and grinding
their teeth. When excited, the ears are lowered until they are parallel with the
neck, and the whites of the eyes show. Though not exceptionally keen-sighted,
Deer have their sense of smell and hearing highly developed. They can take the
wind of a man at a mile. When travelling they move to windward, and when
resting generally choose the lee side of a hill just below the crest, and for
preference one that forms a point between two valleys. From such a position
they can see everything that moves below and get the wind from the flanks and
above. In such places Deer are often unstalkable, and in bad weather will remain
for days in the same position. I once spent five days in one of the best forests
in Scotland with four other rifles. The wind was in the north, all the Deer
were collected in big herds at these favourable points, and not one of us obtained
a shot. A slightly wounded Stag travels up wind and up hill, and then lies
down looking backwards, but a badly wounded animal generally goes down wind
and down hill. Many old Stags may be found early in the season far up on the
hills accompanied by a young three or four year old Stag which acts as his * fag/
and is obliged to keep watch while the old fellow enjoys himself. I f the old
beast is shot this youngster will often stay around and refuse to go away; In
the woods of Somerset and Devon this trait on the part of cunning old Stags of
keeping a useful go-between is well known, and there are many instances of one
being aroused by the tufters and of his forcing a young Stag out of the cover
as a substitute. To complete the deception, the old Stag generally occupies the
couch of the youngster.
1 They will also eat the small branches of every species of conifer.
The voice of the Stag is too well known to need any description. Young
Stags are often more noisy than old ones iii the rutting season, but their roars are
not so deep-toned. A Stag will sometimes give a warning bark when very frightened ;
the alarm note of the hind is a deep bark, sometimes drawn out into a double
syllable like the word ‘ Bru-ach.’ She also emits a nasal whine when calling
her calf.
Deer are good swimmers, and will easily travel from four to six miles across
lakes or even over the sea. They are also good jumpers. I have seen a big Stag
clear a net over seven feet high. On the flat Deer can easily jump twenty feet, and
can doubtless cover far wider spaces when they are frightened. * The Hart’s Leap ’
on the borders of Ettrick is commemorated by two stones placed there by one of
the Scottish kings; they are twenty-eight feet apart.
As pets Stags are a failure, for after the second year they invariably become
dangerous. Even a tame hind can give a severe blow with her fore feet. I have
seen a man knocked hors-de-combat by what appeared to be a sharp push. Several
men have keen killed by Stags which have been allowed to become too tame. In
1889 the head stalker at Fannich, named McLennan, was killed by a Ross-shire
Stag after a desperate struggle. When Stags in parks refuse to move out of the
way, show the whites of the eyes, and lower their ears on the approach of man they
should be killed at once. Such Deer are becoming dangerous, and if allowed to
live will do some mischief. In fact in the ensuing ‘ rut ’ they will change from
being passive to active enemies.
Recently a park Stag which had been allowed to become tame was turned out
on a Highland moor in Inverness-shire. It came across the tent of a tinker and
his wife, which it proceeded to demolish. ‘ The man went out to drive the animal
off/ says the F ield report, ‘ and was at once knocked down, whereupon the woman
joined in the fray, and all three had a rough-and-tumble on the moor, as a result of
which the Stag seems to have got as much as he wanted, while the tinkers got a
good deal more, being considerably injured both in their person and their feelings, for
the fight was on stony ground, and such people, as a rule, are poorly clad. Ascertaining
that the Deer was the private property of a proprietor in the district, and
claimed as such, the tinker couple had a frim a fa cie case to sue for damages, and
have now been awarded 5/. apiece, together with half the costs of the legal
process. It was argued for the defence that their story was a work of imagination,
and that their injuries were inflicted by “ Long John,” but after an attentive hearing
and subsequent study of the evidence, medical and otherwise, the sheriff decided