Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume V.djvu/763

DEER 759 a fold of the skin ; the legs are long and slen- der. The color in summer is bright fulvous, in autumn of a leaden hue, and in winter dark brown, when it is longer haired above ; the American Deer (Cariacus Virginianus). lower parts from chin to end of tail are white : the sexes are very much alike. The young^ till about the age of four months, are bright reddish brown, with irregular longitudinal white spots ; after this age they resemble the old ones. The length of this species from nose to root of tail is about 5 ft. 4 in., and the length of tail, including the hair, 13 in., the bones being only 6 in. ; the ear is 5 in. high. From the observations of Dr. Bachman, as given in the " Quadrupeds of North America " (vol. iii., p. 168), it appears that in the one- year-old male the horns had each a rudimen- tary prong about five eighths of an inch long, and another scarcely visible ; when two years old, two prongs, from 4 to 6 in. long; when three years old, three prongs, the longest 8 in. with brow antlers ; when four years old, the brow antlers longer and curved, and larger in diameter; during the next two years the animal seemed to lose its vigor, and the horns diminished in size ; perhaps in the wild state the horns would have been somewhat larger. As a general rule, the horns become annually longer and more branched, until the animal arrives at maturity, when they begin to decline ; when the operation of castration is performed while the horns are fully grown, they are said to continue for years, and after they have dropped there is no subsequent growth. This graceful animal is the most useful of the wild game of North America ; its flesh forms a palatable and easily digestible article of food ; its skin is made into various articles of clothing both for civil- ized man and the savage ; its horns are useful for handles of different kinds of cutlery; its sinews for the bow-strings and snow-shoe net- ting of the North American Indian. Though very timid, it lingers around its old haunts when invaded by man and persecuted by the hunter; during the day it retires to thickets and swamps, coming out to feed and drink by night ; in hot weather it is fond of immersing itself deeply in ponds and streams. The food of the deer in winter consists of buds of the wild rose, hawthorn, brambles, and various berries and leaves, and in spring and summer of the tenderest grasses; it not unfrequently visits the fields of wheat, oats, maize, and cow peas; berries, nuts, acorns, and persimmons are also favorite articles of food. They are in fine order from August to November, when in the southern states the rutting season begins ; during this period, which lasts about two months, the neck of the male increases in size; when the males meet, tremendous bat- tles ensue, resulting often in the death of one or both of the combatants; about Jan- uary the horns are dropped, and they asso- ciate peaceably, as if conscious of their weak and defenceless condition. In about three weeks after the shedding of the horns, the swellings of the new ones begin to appear, soft, tender, vascular, growing rapidly, accom- panied by considerable heat, and covered by a soft downy skin called the velvet ; when these are fully grown, in July or August, this dry covering is rubbed off against the trees, and the horns become solid and smooth. The fe- males are fattest from November to January, gradually getting thinner toward the end of gestation, and growing quite lean while suck- ling the young. The young are born in April, May, or June, according to latitude ; Audubon says that in Florida and Alabama most of the fawns are brought forth in November. The young are carefully concealed, and are visited by day only occasionally, as at morning, noon, and night ; they are easily domesticated, but are troublesome pets. The hind does not pro- duce young until she is two years old, and the number of fawns varies from one to three at a birth ; she is much attached to her young, and the imitation of their cry is often practised by the Indians to bring the mother within reach of their weapons. Deer are gregarious, being found in herds of several hundreds, the sexes separate except during the rutting season ; their smell and hearing are very acute, as every hunter knows ; the sight is not so acute, and the voice is quite imperfect. Preferring to roam at night in search of food, they frequent the banks of watercourses and the salt licks, where great numbers are destroyed. In walk- ing, the deer carries the head low, the. largest animal usually leading the herd, which ad- vances in single file ; when alarmed, it gives two or three high and exceedingly graceful springs, and if it sees any danger rushes off with the speed of a race horse, running low, with the head in a line with the body. Deer take to water readily, and swim with their bodies deeply submerged, and so rapidly that nothing but an Indian canoe can easily over- take them. The deer has been hunted by the