deer
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Members of the deer family are found throughout the Western Hemisphere, Europe, and Asia. They are not native to Australia nor to most of Africa. Included among the approximately three dozen species in the deer family are moose; wapiti, or red deer; and caribou, or reindeer. The males of nearly all species of deer grow solid horns, called antlers, which they shed each year. The only female deer to grow antlers is the female caribou. Antlers distinguish most species in the deer family from other hoofed mammals, in many of which both sexes have permanent, hollow horns. Among deer, the antlers serve as weapons during the mating season, when the males fight to win the chance to breed with females. Members of the deer family live in a wide variety of places, including forests, swamps, deserts, and tundra. They feed exclusively on such plant materials as grass, young shoots, twigs, and bark. Like cows, deer are cud-chewing animals. Some deer travel in herds and go on seasonal migrations. Deer are extremely cautious animals with keen senses of smell and hearing. Most deer reach maturity in one to three years, and the female gives birth to one or two young or, occasionally, to triplets. The offspring nurse for several months. Deer are mammals belonging to the family Cervidae in the order Artiodactyla (the even-toed, hoofed mammals). The order Artiodactyla also includes pigs, cattle, goats, sheep, camels, antelope, giraffes, and hippopotamuses.
White-tailed and Mule Deer
The most common deer in the eastern United States is the white-tailed deer, whose scientific name is Odocoileus virginianus. These deer range throughout eastern North America from southern Canada through Central America. In colonial times they were one of the most important wild game animals. Their meat, called venison, was a major food source for early settlers. Deer hides were used to make buckskin jackets, moccasins, and other leather articles. Even today the white-tailed deer is the most popular large game animal in the eastern United States. White tailed deer are larger in the northern part of their range, where bucks, or males, often weigh more than 470 pounds (213 kilograms). As in most deer species, the does, or females, are somewhat smaller. Both sexes are reddish brown in summer and gray in winter. When they run, they lift their tails straight up like white flags. The young, called fawns, have reddish coats with white spots. A buck develops a pair of spiked antlers by the fall of its second year. Between January and April, after mating, the buck sheds his antlers and grows a larger set. The autumn mating season transforms timid bucks into fierce fighters, though, in contrast to many European and Asian species, white-tailed deer do not utter sounds. The winner in a contest of clashing antlers inherits mating privileges with the does in the vicinity. A closely related species, the mule deer (O. hemionus), lives in western North America from the southern Yukon to northern Mexico. It has large ears, and its tail is tipped with black. Both white-tailed and mule deer can run as fast as 40 miles (64 kilometers) per hour and are good swimmers.
Moose (image )
The largest member of the deer family is the moose (Alces alces), called elk in Europe. The bull, or male, stands as high as 7.7 feet (2.35 meters) at the shoulder and may weigh some 1,800 pounds (820 kilograms). The cow, or female, is about three fourths the size of the bull. The animals’ color ranges from black to brown. Moose occur across Canada from New England to Alaska and extend down into Wyoming. They also are found from northern Europe to Mongolia. The bull moose has a large head with a broad muzzle that curves downward. Beneath his neck hangs a hairy fold of skin called a bell. The antlers of a moose are flattened and may spread 6.6 feet (2 meters) across. The antlers are shed in winter, sprout again in spring, and reach full size by early summer. In late spring the cow gives birth to one or two calves that stay with her until the following spring. Moose occur in forested areas, particularly near water. They feed on willow tips, saplings, and bark. They wade along the shores and thrust their heads underwater for mouthfuls of tender plants that grow on the bottom. Moose swim very well.
Wapiti, or Red Deer
The deer family’s second largest member is Cervus elaphus, which is called the wapiti or elk in North America and the red deer in the rest of its range. These deer are found in Europe, central Asia, northern and western China, and northwestern Africa and have been introduced into New Zealand. In North America the greatest numbers of wapiti are found in the western United States and southwestern Canada. The bulls grow to nearly 5 feet (1.5 meters) in height at the shoulders and may weigh more than 750 pounds (340 kilograms). The cows are smaller. These deer are dark brown in the head and chest region and light brown on the rest of the body with a large white patch on the rump. They have huge antlers that may spread 5 feet (1.5 meters) across. Wapiti, or red deer, roam in herds, moving from the mountains to the valleys in winter. During the mating season in the fall, fights between males are common. They challenge one another with a loud bellow. Two animals face each other from a distance of about 20 feet (6 meters), paw the ground, and then charge and crash their antlers together. Bellowing as they fight, they continue the struggle until one goes down. The loser usually survives but leaves the area. Occasionally the antlers of the fighters lock together so that neither can eat, and both animals die from starvation. In about March the bulls lose their antlers, but they can still ward off predators with their sharp front hooves. In early summer each cow gives birth to one or two white-spotted calves
Caribou
Caribou (Rangifer tarandus), or reindeer as they are sometimes called, inhabit the far northern regions of North America, Europe, and Asia. An almost pure-white subspecies lives in northern Greenland. In North America the woodland caribou is found in Canada and Alaska in swampy forest habitats. Farther north, the northern, or barren ground, caribou roam the desolate Arctic tundra. Their original range included northern Maine and Minnesota as well as the Rocky Mountain region of Idaho and Wyoming. The last natural band south of Canada disappeared from Isle Royale, Michigan, in the 1920s. Caribou move continually, migrating in herds that travel south for winter and north in summer. In the warmer months they can be found in the farthest northern reaches of the Arctic tundra. Caribou have thicker bodies and shorter legs than do most deer. Their hooves are broad. Their coats are brown. They have white tails, necks, and sides. Their colors vary with the seasons, as do those of many other deer, becoming lighter in color during winter. Those in the northernmost parts of their range may be almost white. Both sexes of caribou have large, irregularly branching antlers, though those of the female are somewhat smaller and more slender. The males also reach larger sizes, with some reaching weights of more than 700 pounds (318 kilograms) and shoulder heights of up to 4.6 feet (1.4 meters). Caribou eat grasses and browse on low-lying vegetation. They are noted for consuming large quantities of a lichen called reindeer moss that grows in the tundra regions. When alarmed, caribou break into a clumsy gallop, changing to a steady trot that carries them across the tundra. Their large, spreading hooves, with sharp cup-shaped edges, give them a firm footing on the soft, mucky surface of their summer homes and on winter ice and snow. Caribou are the most domesticated of the deer. In the region of Lapland in northern Europe, they are kept for milk and meat and for pulling sleds over the snow. Their hides furnish clothing, blankets, and harnesses.
Other Central and South American Deer
Several species of deer are found in forests of Central and South America. The brockets (genus Mazama) are small deer, 1.1 to 2.5 feet (0.35 to 0.75 meter) tall and weighing less than 55 pounds (25 kilograms). Brockets inhabit thick forest areas from about sea level to as high as 16,400 feet (5,000 meters) from eastern Mexico to northern Argentina. Two species of pudu (genus Pudu), found in forests of the lower Andes, are the smallest deer. The Chilean pudu (P. pudu), which is in danger of extinction, stands about 1 foot (0.3 meter) high and weighs less than 20 pounds (9 kilograms). The nocturnal marsh deer (Blastocerus dichotomus), resembling the mule deer in size and antler shape, lives in wet lowlands of eastern South America. The pampas deer (Ozotoceros bezoarticus) is a small, reddish-brown species that lives in the plains of Argentina and Brazil. Hunters can smell pampas deer some distance away because of a strong scent that is released from sacs in the hind feet.
Other European and Asian Deer
Roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) are small and reddish with no visible tail. They are found from the British Isles to China. Fallow deer (Dama dama) are a woodland species now mostly in Europe that are more restricted in their range than red or roe deer. Also included among the Asian deer are the six species of muntjacs (genus Muntiacus), also known as barking deer, found from India and Sri Lanka to China and parts of Malaysia and Indonesia. These are small deer of the forests. They are noted for barking like dogs when alarmed and during the breeding season, and for having tiny antlers and tusklike canine teeth. The Chinese water deer (Hydropotes inermis) of China and Korea have tusks but no antlers. They live in marshy areas among tall reeds and grasses. The axis deer, or chital (Axis axis), of India and Sri Lanka are medium-sized deer of forested areas. They have reddish coats and, for part of the year, keep their white spots as adults. Other species found in Asian forests are sika and sambar, which are closely related to wapiti and tufted deer.
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