Three species of deer are found in California,--the black-tailed,
white-tailed, and mule deer. The first mentioned (_Cervus Columbianus_)
is by far the most abundant, and occasionally meets the sheep during
the summer on high glacier meadows, and along the edge of the timber
line; but being a forest animal, seeking shelter and rearing its young
in dense thickets, it seldom visits the wild sheep in its higher homes.
The antelope, though not a mountaineer, is occasionally met in winter
by the sheep while feeding along the edges of the sage-plains and bare
volcanic hills to the east of the Sierra. So also is the mule deer,
which is almost restricted in its range to this eastern region. The
white-tailed species belongs to the coast ranges.
Perhaps no wild animal in the world is without enemies, but highlanders,
as a class, have fewer than lowlanders. The wily panther, slipping and
crouching among long grass and bushes, pounces upon the antelope and
deer, but seldom crosses the bald, craggy thresholds of the sheep.
Neither can the bears be regarded as enemies; for, though they seek to
vary their every-day diet of nuts and berries by an occasional meal of
mutton, they prefer to hunt tame and helpless flocks.
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