CHAPTER V.

UNGULATA--FALLOW, RED, AND SAMBUR DEER.

FALLOW DEER (_Cervus dama_).

On account of its graceful form, beautiful colouring, and comparatively inoffensive manner, this is the favourite deer for parks and pleasure-grounds.

The fallow deer has palmated antlers--that is, they end in a broad expansion, which is divided into several points, and has been compared to a hand with its fingers. These antlers are not developed at all in the fawn; in the second season they are simple snags; in the third the two front branches develop; in the fourth the extremity of the beam begins to assume the palmated form; while the fully developed antler occurs only in the sixth year. It is thus possible to tell the age of a buck by its antlers, and the following terms have been used to distinguish the stags: Fawn, pricket, sorrel, soare, buck of the first lead, and buck complete. The antlers are usually cast about November, but I have no information as to the dates in the different districts, and whether the milder climate of the North Island causes any earlier development. By the middle of February the new horns are almost free from their velvet, and in about five months the antlers are complete. The breeding (rutting) season begins about the middle of April, when the bucks are occasionally heard to utter a sort of grunting bark. This is the only kind of sound uttered by these animals. A single fawn is born each year, usually in the month of December.

Fallow deer are gregarious animals, going about in herds, which consist of bucks by themselves, and of does and their fawns by themselves. These herds coalesce in February and March, and again--at least, in Britain--at the beginning of winter. Sir Harry Johnston suggests that this winter gathering into large herds is a relic of the days when they were forced to band together in large numbers to protect themselves from the attacks of wolves and other carnivorous beasts. It would be interesting to learn whether this habit of winter aggregation is kept up in New Zealand.

Fallow deer are of two main types. The first, which is rather larger than the second, becomes a light reddish-grey or reddish-brown in summer, spotted more or less brightly with white; the legs and belly being cream-colour or pale buff. There is generally a black line right down the centre of the back from the shoulder to the end of the tail; the lower side of the tail and the rump under it are white. In late autumn the fur changes in colour, the spots disappear, and the fur on the upper part of the body becomes a dark uniform brown. The buck of this variety stands about 36 in. high at the shoulder, sometimes a little more, while the does are somewhat less.

In Britain there is a smaller type which is entirely without spots, and which is not nearly as handsome as the other. I do not know whether any of this type were introduced into New Zealand. Most probably those brought here came from park herds, and these are often very brightly coloured and spotted. It would be interesting to learn what types we have in the country.

Fallow-deer venison is considered to be better and more juicy than that of the red deer. In my opinion, venison is not equal to mutton; but one has to bear in mind that when we eat venison we are usually eating the flesh of bucks, or male animals, while we do not eat the flesh of rams. If we did, and compared it with that of deer, we might find cause to reverse our judgment. It is interesting to note in old authors how greatly venison was esteemed, and it was mostly fallow-deer venison which is referred to.

The first introduction of fallow deer into New Zealand was in 1864, when the Nelson Acclimatization Society received three from England. All the early records of the Nelson Society are lost, so we do not know what came of this experiment. Perhaps, however, these animals were the originals of an old-established herd which exists in that district.

In 1867 the Otago Society introduced two deer, in 1869 twelve more, and in 1871 one. All these were liberated on the Blue Mountains, Tapanui, where they have increased to a vast extent, and now form one of the most important herds in the country. Licenses to shoot them have been issued for over twenty-five years.

In 1871 the Canterbury Society had four fallow deer in their gardens, but there is no record now obtainable as to where they came from, nor definitely as to what was done with them. In later years, however, some were running on the Culverden Estate, and two more deer--obtained from Tasmania--were added to them. This herd did not increase, and apparently they have all been destroyed since.

The Hon. S. Thorne George, who lived on Kawau from 1869 to 1884, told me that the first fallow deer in the colony were introduced there by his uncle, Sir George Grey, but he could not give the exact date of their introduction. However, in 1876 the Auckland Society received twenty-eight deer from London, and, of these, eighteen were liberated on the Maungakawa Range, Waikato, while ten were sent down to Wanganui. The former herd has increased very largely, and is noted for the fine heads of the stags, due, no doubt, to the abundance of food and the favourable climatic conditions. The Wanganui herd is now also a large one. On Motutapu, in the Hauraki Gulf, there is a very large herd, which numbered over a thousand some three years ago. These may either be descended from animals got from Kawau, or were originally obtained from the Waikato herd. Smaller and more recently established herds occur near Timaru, Hokitika, and Lake Wakatipu; so it is seen that this species is widely spread throughout New Zealand.

RED DEER (_Cervus elaphus_).

This handsome animal is found now in many parts of New Zealand, forming great herds, some of which number many thousand individuals. The red-deer stag is a lordly creature in summer, standing over 4 ft. high at the shoulder, with a thickly coated neck of greyish tint, a rich red-brown body-colour, uniformly curved, symmetrical antlers, and a head held high. In winter the coat is longer and of a greyish tint. The new-born calves are brilliantly spotted with white, a character which this species shares with many other kinds of deer. In some species, as in the axis and fallow deer, the spots are retained in the adults, while in the majority they are lost as the animals come to maturity. The inference is that the progenitors of all these deer were spotted animals; but this character has been lost in the course of time by several species, though still retained in the young. The same thing is seen among horses, newly-born foals often showing the characteristic bars on the shoulders which are still found among certain wild races of horses in the adult animals.

The antlers of the red deer are very complex. “In the spring of the year following its birth the antlers are nothing more than straight, conical, and unbranched ‘beams,’ the animal being then known as a ‘brocket.’ In the following spring the antler has, besides the ‘beam,’ a small branch from its base, directed forwards, known as the ‘brow antler’; it is then termed ‘spayad.’ In the third year an extra front branch is formed, known as the ‘tres,’ and the whole antler is larger. This ‘tres’ is sometimes seen in the smaller antler of the ‘spayad.’ In the fourth year the ‘brow-antler’ is doubled, to form the ‘brow’ and ‘bez-tine,’ at the same time that the top of the main beam divides into the ‘sur-royals’ of the ‘staggard,’ or four-year male. In the fifth year the ‘sur-royals’ become more numerous, the whole antler of the ‘stag’ being heavier than previously, only to be exceeded in weight by those of the fully adult ‘great hart,’ with ten or more points, each being larger and longer than the year before. In Britain the conditions of life and food are not of the quality which develops first-rate antlers; at the same time it is--in Scotland, at least--the habit to shoot those with the finest heads, and so leave the indifferent specimens to perpetuate the species. In some of the ancient forests of Germany superb herds of the red deer were to be obtained [this was before the war, of course], whilst in several of the old castles of that country antler trophies are preserved as memorials of sport in times gone by with as many as six-and-sixty points.”

It is clear that there are several distinct strains of red deer in the country, recognized chiefly by the form and growth of the antlers, which are usually what sportsmen look to. This mixing of breeds probably tends to the production of a strong race, and the efforts of the main acclimatization societies are directed--often, it must be admitted, rather blindly--to the elimination of defective deer. In the case of some of the large herds attempts are frequently made to thin out all weeds and deer with malformed antlers. According to Mr. Hardcastle, the majority of malformations occur in the skull and not merely in the horns, the horn-pedicle being often misplaced. In Otago these malforms are most common in open tussock land or open birch bush; they are not met with, as a rule, in rugged gorges or in rough and dense bush country. Perhaps malformation is due to want of nourishment at some period of growth, but there is no definite information on the point, nor is it known whether the trouble is hereditary or not.

The pairing season in New Zealand is in March or April, and at that time the stags are dangerous creatures. They drop their antlers usually about September, the youngest being the latest to do so. The fawns are born in November or December, and the animals continue to increase in bulk and strength till they are about twelve years old. They probably do not live more than twenty years, “though superstition credits them with very many more.”

Wherever they are abundant red deer live mostly on certain trees and shrubs, and eat grass only when other food is not obtainable. In the North Island it is stated that fuchsia is the principal food in spring and autumn, but that in winter they take to _Veronica salicifolia_ (koromiko) and other shrubs. Probably they eat the majority of the native shrubs. In the South Island forests the following trees are mostly eaten: Broadleaf, species of _Panax_, _Nothopanax_, _Coprosma_, ribbonwood, pepper-tree, milk-tree, and tutu.[1] But when these are scarce they will eat almost any shrub. They will not eat birch or beech (_Nothofagus_), nor celery-pine (_Phyllocladus_), till other food is exhausted.

[Footnote 1: NOTE.--Tutu is not poisonous, but rather fattening, when animals become slowly accustomed to its use.]

The first specimens appear to have been brought--a pair of them--to Nelson in 1851; but the doe was killed soon after, and the buck, after remaining about Motueka for ten years, joined a lot then introduced. In 1861 a stag and two hinds, presented by Lord Petre from his park in Essex, England, were landed in Nelson. The progeny of these animals increased, and rapidly spread themselves over a great part of the high country in the provincial districts of Nelson and Marlborough. Of late years they have farther spread into North Canterbury and over towards the West Coast. Mr. Hardcastle, who in 1906 wrote a report on the red-deer herds in the country, says, “The heads obtained in Nelson are of a good colour and fairly massive, but compared with those of Wairarapa and Hawea they have not the same average of span or spread. Lord Petre’s herd had had no new blood introduced into it for many years, so that a particular type of antler had been fixed from which there is no throwing back.” According to Mr. Hardcastle, the type of head of the first imported stag continues to persist, and dominates all the deer of the Nelson herd. (In 1900 a herd, descended from Nelson deer, was started in the Lillburn Valley, west of the Waiau River, in Southland.)

In 1862 a stag and two hinds, presented by the late Prince Consort to Governor Weld, were handed over by him to Dr. Featherston, then Superintendent of the Wellington Province, and were liberated on the property of Mr. Carter, East Taratahi, Wairarapa. They did not stay there long, however, but crossed into the Maungaraki Range, where they rapidly increased. Mr. Hardcastle reported in 1906, “The Wairarapa forest is probably the best-stocked red-deer ground on the globe. On Te Awaite Run, bordering on the east coast, the deer may now be seen in bunches of up to one hundred head. At the beginning of last year it was estimated that there were fully ten thousand head on the station. According to information given in _The Field_ of the 15th September, 1906, the Windsor Park herd, from which the original stock came, has been replenished from English, Scottish, German, and probably Danish stock. The result has produced in the Wairarapa herd stags that are remarkable for their massive antlers, some of which are of the German type, and others again more resembling the Scottish form. The antlers do not grow to great length, but some are very wide in spread, and there is a great proportion of ‘Imperials,’ the most number of points recorded being twenty-two. The stags mature their antlers early. A number of heads have been shot on Te Awaite Station showing the abnormal development of the back tines, such as is seen to be the case in the great Warnham Park stags in England, and which is probably due to the highly favourable conditions of climate, food, and shelter.”

In 1871 the Otago Acclimatization Society imported fifteen red deer, some of which were sent to the care of Mr. Rich, of Bushy Park, Palmerston; while seven were liberated on the Morven Hills Run, east of Lake Hawea. Those at Bushy Park spread over into the Horse Range; but they did not succeed, and no definite explanation of the failure has been given. Probably the country was not high and wild enough: on one side they were encroaching all the time on well-stocked sheep-country, and on the other on old-settled farm land; besides which there were many old diggers still about the neighbourhood. From one cause or another they did not succeed. The Otago Acclimatization Society reported them as quite extinct in 1892, but Mr. Hardcastle, writing in 1918, says they are still to be found on the Horse Range.

The deer liberated at Morven Hills were from the estates of the Earl of Dalhousie, in Forfarshire, Scotland. They are the only lot of pure Scottish-bred deer in this country. In their new home in the New Zealand mountains they multiplied at a great rate, and have in these forty-odd years spread over the country between Lakes Wanaka, Hawea, and Ohau. They have worked their way up the Hunter and Makarora Rivers, across the Haast Pass into south Westland, and right up to the neighbourhood of Mount Cook. The most of this country runs from 3,000 ft. to 7,000 ft. in height, and much of it is very steep, rugged, and inaccessible. But it contains much bush in the valleys and gullies, and the open country is well grassed in summer. Hardcastle says, “The North Otago stags maintain the true Scottish type of antler, but they grow to much greater length than the antlers of any stags that have been shot in the British Isles. The antlers are also remarkable for their symmetry and perfection in the development of the tines, and particularly the lower tines. Some magnificent heads have been got, including a seventeen-and an eighteen-pointer, and two royals, each 46 in. in length of antlers; more recently a head 49 in. in length with a spread of 50½ in., and either one or two with twenty points, have been obtained. The coats of the stags are generally shaggy, owing, no doubt, to the severe climate in winter.”

In 1895 the Otago Society obtained two fine stags from the Hunt Club, Melbourne, to add to the North Otago herd; but I do not know what special strain these belonged to. Again, in 1913, the society imported a stag and six hinds from Warnham Park, England, the object in both cases being to introduce new blood into the herds.

In 1897 the Canterbury Acclimatization Society imported nine red deer from the Warnham Park herd, and liberated them in the gorge of the Rakaia River. They have increased rapidly since, herds of forty and more having been seen from time to time. Some of the heaviest heads secured in New Zealand have been got from this herd. The record length head from this herd is 48½ in.; the record spread is 46¾ in.; and the record points twenty-four. The heaviest heads shot in New Zealand have been obtained in the Rakaia Gorge herd, a number of dry skulls and horns from thence weighing from 22 lb. to 23¾ lb. Mr. Hardcastle, my informant, states that he does not think more than an odd head going as much as 20 lb. has been shot in any other herd in New Zealand.

More recent importations have been as follows: In 1903 either seven or eight fawns from Victoria, presented by Miss Audrey Chirnside, of Werribee Park, were liberated at Mount Tuhua, in Westland. In 1906 four more from the same source were added to this herd; and eight were liberated at Lake Kanieri. In 1903 the Tourist Department obtained eight deer from the Duke of Bedford, and liberated them at Lake Wakatipu. In 1908 four were obtained from Warnham Park, Sussex, England, and were liberated at Paraparaumu. In 1909 three were liberated at Dusky Sound.

The original importations of red deer account for the vast numbers of these animals which are now to be met with in so many mountainous parts of both Islands, for many of the acclimatization societies, as well as the Tourist Department, have obtained deer from one or other of these original herds, and have started new herds in other districts--for example, in the country round Taupo and Rotorua, the West Coast Sounds of the South Island, and Stewart Island--and these are all increasing. In regard to the last-mentioned locality, a conflict has now arisen between the would-be sportsmen of the Southland Acclimatization Society and those who desire to see the rare native bird fauna of Stewart Island preserved. It is to be hoped that no shooting of game will be allowed in the island.

SAMBUR DEER, OR SAMBAR (_Cervus unicolor_).

This is a handsome deer from the hill-country of India. The stag stands about 5 ft. high, is of a deep-brown colour, with the hair of the neck developed almost into a mane. It is massively built, and carries great antlers over 3 ft. in length, and presenting three powerful points. Above the considerable brow-tine the beam bifurcates high up into two fairly equal snags, and no more, in well-grown antlers. The hind is much less massive, and of a yellowish tint. Captain Kinloch says of the species that “Sambur delights in stony hills where there is plenty of cover, and where they can have easy access to water. They browse more than graze, and are nearly nocturnal in their habits. During the daytime they seek the most shady retreats, and old stags especially are most difficult to find, frequently betaking themselves to almost inaccessible places, where the uninitiated would never dream of looking for them.”

The introduction of sambur into New Zealand is difficult to trace. In 1875 the Auckland Acclimatization Society received a buck from a Mr. Larkworthy, and in the following year a doe, but there is no further mention of these deer in the society’s reports. However, in the annual report of the Wellington Society for 1894 the following statement occurs: “The Ceylon elk (sambur deer) imported into the Carnarvon district, Manawatu, by Mr. Larkworthy have been brought under the provisions of the Animals Protection Act, and are at present under the control of the society. It has been reported that the herd now numbers about thirty.” There is no previous record of these deer in the Wellington Society’s reports. In 1900 the herd is reported to number about a hundred, “but there is good reason to think that they are really more numerous.... A pair of antlers was found on the hills near Cambridge, and two deer were shot there,” some two hundred miles from Carnarvon. In 1906 stag-shooting was opened for the first time in the Marton district (Rangitikei), but there were numerous complaints about poaching. The herd seems now to be a fairly large one, but the local Rangers complain of indiscriminate destruction of deer in season and out of season.

In 1907 the Tourist Department imported two sambur deer from Noumea, and liberated them in the Rotorua district, adding to them some others secured in the Manawatu, so as to form the nucleus of a new herd.

VIRGINIAN OR WHITE-TAILED DEER (_Cariacus virginianus_).

In 1905 the Tourist Department imported eighteen white-tailed deer from America, and liberated nine of them at Port Pegasus, in Stewart Island, and nine in the Rees Valley, Lake Wakatipu. The former location should not have been chosen, for Stewart Island was long ago proclaimed a sanctuary for native birds, and its selection illustrates the haphazard way in which acclimatization work has been carried on in this country. The introduction and the location were both apparently the choice of Mr. Donne, of the Tourist Department, who is now in London. These deer have increased to such an extent that in October, 1919, regulations for shooting them were gazetted, which means that the island will cease to be a sanctuary. The white-tailed deer is about 3 ft. high. The upper part of the body is a bright chestnut colour in summer, changing to a yellowish speckled grey in winter, and with black markings on the face and tail. The distinctive feature, from which the popular name is derived, is the white colour of the underside of the tail. The antlers are rather large, up to 14 in. or more between the tips, and have as many as eighteen points in the largest specimens. I do not know whether they are very numerous in Port Pegasus, while there is no information available about the herd in the Lake Wakatipu region.