does not usually affect the size. There is no doubt that 

 the food supply influences the i^rowth. 



At first the males are very careful of their antlers 

 but later when the mating season arrives in October, 

 the males will light among themselves, often breaking 

 their recently matured antlers. Sometimes they be- 

 come inextricably interlocked and death results. The 

 deer is usually about a year and a half old when its 

 first set of antlers is mature. The first set, as a rule, 

 does not have prongs or branches and it is called a 

 "spike buck." In succeeding years, the number of 

 branches increases and the best sets of antlers appear 

 when the animal is about five years old. 



The female deer or doe gives birth to one or two 

 and rarely three young in the early part of May. The 

 young are called fawns and are possessed of the spotted 

 forest pattern which seems to render a protection. The 

 young do not follow the mother for the first few weeks 

 and, as they grow older, the hair coat develops in full, 

 the spots gradually disappear until Fall when the coat 

 of coarse hair is a uniform brown. 



There are two pelage phases of our common deer. 

 In summer its body is a reddish brown with the belly, 

 under side, tip of tail, inside of legs and throat patch, 

 white. There is a blackish spot on either side of the 

 face and a whitish band across the nose. In winter the 

 body color changes to a grayish or grayish brown. The 

 hair also becomes longer and stiffen The young are 

 reddish brown with white spots that persist until the 

 fifth month. 



The deer is from five to six feet long and the tail 

 measures twelve inches. Its height at the shoulders is 



-h: 155 >«*- 



