It should be easier to find MULE DEER, a familiar sight in many areas in early morning or evening, even in midsummer. Hikers encounter them on the trails throughout the park. When startled, the mule deer takes flight, characteristically bounding from all four feet at once, making soaring leaps, and landing with such force that its feet make a drumming sound. This bouncing but graceful gait has earned it the nickname “jumping deer” in some areas. It is effective in ascending rocky slopes and traversing brush country. The males of all deer, including the American elk, grow antlers annually. For a short period in late winter and spring they have no antlers at all, but by June the new growths begin, getting larger and larger until August, when they attain full size. Until then, the antlers are “in velvet”—with a soft, hairy covering—which dries up and peels or is rubbed off. Often the animal helps the removal of the velvet by rubbing its antlers against the trunks and branches of trees. Many “rubbing trees” can be seen along the trails. The deer enter the mating season with polished, full-sized antlers, and these majestic adornments are worn until the season of shedding. One might expect to see discarded antlers everywhere; but because they contain much salt and calcium they are eaten by porcupines and other rodents. Few shed antlers, therefore, are seen by visitors to the park. [Illustration: Mule deer are common. The fawns, born in early June, are spotted when young.] [Illustration: Male bighorn display the horns that have made them famous.] In summer, mule deer are seen singly or in small groups, browsing in the higher country; like the elk, they descend into the lower meadows in autumn. They, too, find the winter difficult, because of limited range. Deer are browsing animals, eating such things as willow, aspen, antelope bitterbrush, and even pine needles. Much of their natural food has been overbrowsed, and this condition has helped to make beggars of many of them. It is not unusual to see them in the streets of Estes Park village or near the town garbage dump looking for food. June, however, brings the lush green vegetation on which they regain their strength. That month also is fawning time. The spotted fawns are usually hidden in the woods and are nursed twice a day by the mother, who stays nearby but out of sight. Sometimes well-meaning visitors report an abandoned baby deer. In most instances, the fawn has not been abandoned; the visitors simply failed to see the mother in the background. Fawns, which keep their spots until autumn, run with the mother until the next spring.