BLACK-TAILED DEER 



forehead, and white buttocks. The underside of the tail 

 is white like that of a White-tailed Deer. 

 Columbian Black-tailed Deer; Coast Deer.^ — Odocoileus colum- 



bianus columbj anus (Richardson), tiate XLIV. (Read 



Columbian Black-tailed Deer for upper figure). 

 Somewhat smaller than hemionus, with shorter ears and 

 shorter metatarsal gland; antlers like those of hemionus; 

 tail black above. Summer pelage reddish to reddish yellow 

 above; in winter brownish gray mottled with black, with 

 dark dorsal line, and blackish area on top of head; white 

 on chin, upper throat, underside of tail, and inguinal region; 

 dusky or sooty on chest and anterior underparts ; upperside 

 of tail black. Total length, 66 inches; tail vertebras, 9 

 inches; hind foot, 19 inches. Found in the Pacific North- 

 west from northern California to British Columbia and 

 from the Sierra Nevada and Cascade Mountains to the 

 Pacific Ocean. 

 Southern Black-tailed Deer. — Odocoileus columhianus scaphio- 



tus Merriam. 

 Resembling typical columhianus but ears much larger and 

 broader, and color paler. Upperparts (winter) grizzled 

 gray. Total length, males, 58 inches; tail vertebrae, 5.5 

 inches; hind foot, 18 inches. Found in the coast region of 

 California from San Francisco Bay southward. 

 Sitka Black-tailed Deer. — Odocoileus columhianus sitkensis 



Merriam. 

 Smaller than typical columhianus, with shorter ears and 

 black on upperside of tail restricted to terminal half. 

 Total length, 60 inches; tail vertebras, 5 inches; hind foot, 

 17.5 inches. Found in southeastern Alaska and islands in 

 the Sitka region. 



The Black-tailed Deer may be distinguished from the White- 

 tailed Deer, or Virginia Deer, not only by the difference in 

 color of the tail, but also by the much larger ears of the former, 

 as well as by its larger metatarsal gland, high, bounding gait, 

 and dichotomous antlers. The ranges of these two types of 

 Deer overlap to a considerable extent, but usually the two 

 prefer different environments and thus keep to themselves. 



The Black-tail is at home in broken country, open plains, 

 or brushy, partly wooded terrain and does not care for heavy- 

 forest or swampy regions. It moves about with the season, 

 feeding during the summer well up into the hills and moun- 

 tains and spending the winter in the more sheltered lowlands, 

 often traveling a hundred miles or more to do this. During 

 the winter the Deer congregate in good-sized bands, but when 



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