start, and the two beasts charge at once, and meet with a resounding whack, which can be
heard afar. Once they have thus met, a fallow buck fight is a p o S s h ow ; they arc savage
enough, but they simply cannot hurt e a c h g h e r much the way they go about it. It is all
shove, fence, let go and clash again, and from the shape o f the horns, aud always keeping
their heads as the objective, they never get properly home with an undercut about the heart
or neck, which is the killing stroke with the red stag and the Jap, j f f l p extremely rare for
a buck to be killed by another, although there are instances o f such havin jjftsurred . After
the battle is over, and the defeated one is driven right away, he is simpgjtoo miserable and
dejected for words.
I was, at the end o f October 1894, tremendously interested one morning in a bS bu<*
in Boughton Park who beat off three r i v a l » a short time. The. vanquished went and half
hid themselves m the leeds o f a^pond, and allowed myself and a companion to almost touch
them before they made off. There were tw g o th e i | | o d bucks which were still harassing
“ the man in possessions” and I was keen to see the end o f it all, bdt recollected I had a piessmg
engagement in Sflhurch close by, where I was to get married or some nonsense o f that Ig r t.
After the last blessing had been given and everybody had thoroughly laid themselves out for
'H first class attack of indigestion, I wanted to be off to the park again. T h e sweet creature
Who had caught me in an unguarded moment, however, said it could not be done, I must
come off for my honeymoon like a good boy. But thereHwhen d ^ a woman ever
understand business
Under the false conditions o f crowding and restricted range, fallow deer do many
things which are not their natural habit. In parks, in addition to keeping in large herds
where food is plentiful, the sexes mix indiscriminately except during the rutting season,-
though during horn-growing time it is usual for all the bucks o f from three years o f age
and upwards to keep apart by themselves ; on the slightest alarm, however, all sexes run
together and keep in a close mass. Probably no wild animals press together so closely as
do fallow deer when first startled ; they seem to be aware o f the fact that i f the eye o f their
murderer is upon them he shall at any rate have some-difficulty in selecting his victim.
Having quite made up their minds that it is time to be off, you will- notice how very still
and rigid are those whose duty it is not to lead. I f there is art old doe amongst them, she
will thrust her head forward, accompanied with a step to right or left, as i f scarcely assured
which line to take. That is soon decided, for she alone makes a short run forward, perhaps
springing into short bucks in the air for a few yards, or adopting one or two flashy bits of
action with tail in the air before finally settling down to her pottering trot or more decided
gallop, according to the proximity and nature o f the danger. T h e rest o f the herd rely
implicitly on her good judgment, watching only her actions and her cocked ears. They
themselves follow with leisure and take their places in the usual deer order, old yeld does
in front, then does with calves, prickets, three-year-old males, and lastly old bucks. The
guide may perhaps have only gone a little way when down goes her head, and as human
scent is noticed she comes to a momentary standstill, and shying off to one side, she will not
cross it unless forced over, and those following immediately behind swerve and conform to
all the movements o f their guide. All the actions of an animal in repose or movement
can best be shown by means of illustration, so I will say no more on the subject.
When changing their coats in the spring, fallow deer pull it out for themselves in
mouthfuls, whilst I have noticed that red deer, both stags and hinds, get rid o f much o f the
old hair by rolling and wallowing in their mud holes. For this reason a low-lying park is
often more cut up in the spring than in the autumn.
It is unnecessary to say anything here about catching fallow deer, as copious directions
are given in many books, and there are two firms which make a profession o f it. I was,
however, assisting at a big catch in Denne Park this spring (1896), which had been organised
by Mr. Marsh, and I learnt something I had not seen before, and that was how to carry a
living deer without hurt to itself or its captor. After a deer had been disentangled from the
net into which it had rushed, Mr. Marsh would get some one to give the beast a hoist as he
himself drew it up by the hind legs over his own shoulders. One would scarcely imagine
it would be so, but the buck, which a second or two before was all fight, now lay over the
man’s back without offering a struggle or attempting to use his horns. It takes a big
powerful man such as Mr. Marsh to thus carry a living buck (as I have drawn it from
nature) any distance, and then it is as well to have some one to accompany the bearer and
steady the head, not that the beast will use it, but simply because it wobbles helplessly from
side to side .and might trip the man up. But to all intents and purposes the buck is as
helpless as a log. The deer-catcher told me to try it with a doe, as I am no Hercules, so I
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