1174 



Rural School Leaflet 



Virginia deer do not migrate and they have a very small home range. 

 Ordinarily they have a low, smooth, bounding gait, with an occasional high 

 jump. Their footprints are arranged alternately in a double row. The 

 hind foot falls exactly in the mark of the fore foot, which makes an im- 

 pression about 5^ inches in length. The two parts of the hoof are very 

 sharply denned and are often unequal in size. Deer are good swimmers. 



These animals do not make a nest. The young are born in the middle 

 of May, usually two fawns at a time. The mother hides them in some 

 sheltering underbrush, whither she comes to nurse them. The coat of the 

 young is a rich bay, with clear white spots, which coloring is lost after 

 about four months. These little animals are exceedingly graceful. The 

 males follow the mother for one year, the females for two years. They have 

 many enemies, including bears, wolves, panthers, lynxes, foxes, and eagles. 



In summer, deer follow the water courses, and they feed on herbs, 

 grasses, marsh or aquatic plants, leaves of deciduous trees and shrubs, 

 berries and fruits whenever within reach, and as many beechnuts as can 

 be found. As winter approaches they gather in bands, and when the 

 weather grows severe they congregate in a " yard," which is a cleared, 

 stamped-out space with a wall of snow about it. Here their food 

 consists of buds, low deciduous trees, twigs and foliage of arbor vitae, 

 hemlock, and balsam, and a few mosses and lichens. 



Deer can be readily semi-domesticated for park purposes, but they 

 are treacherous and dangerous as pets. 



Virginia deer 



