JOURNAL OF FORESTRY 
 
age of palatable plants accessible to 
the various classes of livestock. Recog- 
nition is taken of all the main factors 
affecting present and prospective graz- 
ing management on the area, these 
being considered thoroughly in the field, 
along with their relation to the protec- 
tion of timber, watershed and forage. 
Such a procedure is necessary to insure 
stability of operation and it is upon the 
figures and conclusions so obtained that 
stock are now admitted to graze on 
range lands within the national forests. 
It would seem advisable that any 
investigative work as to the require- 
ments of deer found within the state, or 
within a certain forest or game district, 
should be carried out along similar 
lines. Thorough knowledge as to the 
kinds of plants used by deer as forage 
is as essential in any game management, 
or conservation plans, as it is in deal- 
ing with the problems of handling sheep 
and cattle on the range. The gathering 
of the data relative to the natural prefer- 
ence of deer for certain plants is how- 
ever a much more difficult problem, 
due to the habits of the animals them- 
selves. Studies made in areas where 
they are familiar with mankind, as in 
some of our national parks and game 
refuges, undoubtedly give good results, 
but this would be better suited, perhaps, 
to a local condition and could not be 
applied to the subject as a whole. A 
study to be entirely satisfactory should 
cover as wide a range as possible sup- 
plemented by months of close observa- 
tion and scrutiny by the examiner of 
the deer in their native environment, 
and the longer this period could be, 
the more complete the results. 
 
FEEDING HABITS 
Deer feed little during the day time 
and rarely during the heat of the day. 
They appear to feed in early morning, 
late afternoon, twilight and on at inter- 
vals through the night to dawn. Nights 
of full moon are especially attractive 
as a time for feeding and it is no 
uncommon sight to see several small 
bands contentedly browsing, though ever 
watchful and listening for the least sign 
or noise. 
The variety in chosen feeding grounds 
offers an interesting study. Sheltered 
areas seem to be preferred. Deer, like 
most wild animals, apparently dislike 
strong winds and in the Sequoia Na- 
tional Forest it was most unusual to 
see any number of deer feeding in areas 
that are exposed to the full sweep of 
wind. This was particularly noticeable 
where, during the day and often through- 
out the night, strong winds from the 
deserts play on the more exposed slopes 
and ridges of the South Fork of the 
Kern River watershed, Scodie, Piute 
and Breckenridge Mountains. Their 
aversion to working through wet brush 
following rainstorms and their avoid- 
ance of stormy exposed places remind 
one of the habits of the common rabbit. 
Indeed, in stalking either rabbits or 
deer, the practice of advancing only 
when they are actually feeding, remain- 
ing motionless when they look up, has 
often brought me within a favorable 
distance for observations. 
Favorite feeding grounds during the 
spring in the Sequoia National Forest 
appear to be the long, low ridges ex- 
tending down from the timber zone to 
where the oak thickets and choicest