202 



Order ARTIODACTYLA 



lered, and each antler has one main beam, with supplemental 

 branches or spikes, when present, directed backward. Dental 

 formula: I 0/3, C 0/1, Pm 3/3, M 3/3. 



Life History. — The white-tailed deer is most at home in 

 woods and thickets, particularly where wooded areas alternate 

 with open glades, fig. 1. By opening up the forests, early Illinois 

 settlers increased the area favorable to the white-tail, and for 

 a few years in the first half of the last century the deer popula- 

 tion of the state increased. Later, more extensive destruction 

 of forests, intensive agriculture, and hunting combined to exter- 

 minate the white-tail from Illinois. Reintroduced into this 

 state, the white-tail has found suitable habitat in reforested 

 areas and in other areas that are not cultivated. 



Each white-tail buck annually grows a set of antlers, which 

 start to develop late in April or early in May and are covered 

 with velvety skin until it is rubbed off in August or September. 

 It is beneath this "velvet" that bone-forming materials produce 

 the hard antlers. During the mating or rutting season, the 

 antlers are at their strongest, the neck of the male swells, and 



^ ^1 



^,^j5^.\..-.- 





Fig. 110. — Fawn of white-tailed deer. 



