The Courtship of Animals

by W. P. Pycraft

A male having once succeeded in forming a harem, will commonly contrive to repeat his success year after year, withstanding all comers. But sooner or later his vigour wanes and he is ousted by another and younger male. Not else would the stamina of the race be preserved. It is considered a moot point, however, whether physical strength and sexual potency run at the same pace; for it is believed by some that a stag will often contrive to hold a harem against all rivals after his fertility has declined. This, however, is extremely improbable. A lowering of fertility means a decline in the potency of the hormones, and in the development of the secondary sexual characters, among which are the antlers, which are by no means negligible factors. That they are not all-important, however, seems to be shown by the fact that, occasionally, stags appear in a herd which are congenitally unable to produce antlers—a reversion to the ancestral condition—and such are said, occasionally at any rate, to be able to oust their formidably armed rivals. This may be so, but the fact that “hummel” stags, as they are called, are so rare is surely to be regarded as eloquent testimony of the disadvantages of their unarmoured state. They become speedily eliminated, in short, by “Sexual Selection.”

After this outburst of sexual activity has spent itself, the various harems, with their lords, amalgamate; all living in peace through the winter. The stags retain their antlers at this season, partly as a protection against predatory enemies, such as wolves, and other large carnivores, which would otherwise play havoc in their ranks, and partly because the cold of winter and scanty fodder would inhibit the growth of new antlers or reduce their size. With the return of spring the dangers of attack are lessened, temperature rises, and food becomes once more plentiful. Then the inevitable disarmament takes place.

The Red-deer, though mature at six, does not reach his prime till his eleventh year, and from thence till his fifteenth or sixteenth year is at his best. The hinds mature earlier, and appear to be fertile for a much longer period. At any rate, a wild hind in Jura, known by certain peculiarities of its ears, during twenty-one years produced twenty calves. She was killed at last with a calf at her side, but was thin and haggard-looking. She was, therefore, not less than six-and-twenty at her death. The calves, it may be mentioned, are born in May and June.

Old stags shed their antlers, it is remarked, earlier than young ones. And this is an advantage to the species, since it prevents premature breeding on the part of sexually precocious but immature males, and limits competition to the adults.

What obtains in the case of the Red-deer obtains also with minor variations due to environment, climate, and so on, in the case of all other deer. The life-history of the Wapiti, as might be supposed, differs only in detail from that of the Red-deer. But during the winter they form vast herds, numbering thousands. It may be that in primitive times the Red-deer was no less numerous. But in this country, at any rate, conditions favourable to the maximum development, either in bodily size, or in the massiveness of the antlers, have long since passed away. Even in the Highlands of Scotland the conditions of existence have entirely changed owing to disafforestation. Deer are essentially forest dwellers. But the “deer forests” are such only in name, and for the most part the wild stags of to-day must get what shelter they can from rocks and inequalities of the ground. From this cause, and from the very natural desire of the owners of such “forests” to secure the finest heads in each year, the whole race has deteriorated. How great a change has come over it may be seen by comparing the heads of British Stags with those from German forests, where the conditions of existence are more favourable. If we turn to the records of the past we find that the antlers found in the fens, turbaries, and caverns of our islands are vastly larger, heavier, and carry a greater number of points on the sur-royals, than do those of the existing Scotch stags.

Having regard to the fact that hundreds, and in the distant past thousands, of antlers were shed annually, the comparative rarity of these weapons in the haunts of deer excites comment. This is accounted for by the fact that they are greedily eaten by their late owners, apparently, though unconsciously, for the sake of their bone-producing qualities.

By way of contrast with the Red-deer and Wapiti, we may take the Moose (Alces machlis), which at no time, and nowhere, attains to large herds. This is explained by the relatively restricted food supply which obtains in the haunts of these creatures. For they frequent the margins of streams, feeding largely on willows and birch. From the shortness of their necks, and the great length of their legs, they cannot crop grass and other short herbage, for unless they kneel they cannot reach the ground. Hence it is obvious that though their geographical range may be wide, their numbers are kept rigidly in check. They would be fewer still but for the fact that, unlike other deer, they glean no small amount of food from the water, wading out to feed upon aquatic vegetation. The roots of water-lilies are especially sought for, and to obtain these the animal will often disappear entirely under water.

As a consequence of the limited food supply the Moose lead solitary lives. On the Eastern side of America, where the winter is severe, a few individuals, generally a family party, will “yard up,” or make a fortress for their mutual protection by trampling down the snow over a restricted area. But in the Yukon district, my friend Mr. F. C. Selous tells me this is never done.

The rutting season of the bulls begins as soon as the antlers begin to “peel.” What follows is practically a repetition of what has already been related in regard to the Red-deer and Wapiti. And in this connection it is interesting to note that the natives take advantage of the period of desire in the bull to entice him to his death. Generally this is done by imitating the call of the cow in response to the bull’s anxious bellowing. But in Southern Alaska the opposite side of his nature is played upon. This is done by scraping or beating the bushes with the shoulder-blade of a Moose in such a way as to reproduce the sound of a bull cleaning his horns. The very suspicion of a rival enrages him, and, rushing in a blind fury in the direction of the tell-tale sounds, he speedily falls a victim to the trick which has been played him.

That the mating period is the most critical, and most searching in the whole life-history there can be no doubt. Every faculty during this time is put to the test, and from the time of sexual maturity until old age is at last attained it is an annual test. Alertness is all important. Other things being equal, success falls most certainly to those individuals with the keenest perception, and quickest interpretation of sight, sound and smell.