92 SEXUAL DIMORPHISM 



his antlers immediately after the rutting season, at the end of 

 November, the female retains hers until April or May, when 

 she produces her young. 



Now, if we suppose that some modification in the process 

 of heredity has caused the antlers to be developed in the 

 young males and females in the Reindeer, this does not 

 diminish in the least the force of the argument that the 

 usual limitation of these structures to mature males is due 

 to the habit of fighting. But it is interesting to enquire 

 whether there is any peculiarity in the habits of the Reindeer 

 to which the change in the development of the antlers might 

 be attributed. My search for evidence of this kind has not 

 been very successful, but there are peculiarities in the habits 

 of reindeer in which they differ from other species. The 

 most obvious suggestion which presents itself is that perhaps 

 the young males and females also fight, although their 

 pugnacity must arise from some other cause than the sexual 

 excitement which enrages stags. 



That the female reindeer uses her antlers as weapons is 

 indicated by the statement that in order to milk those of the 

 domesticated breed the Laplanders fasten them by a lasso 

 thrown over the antlers, and that even then some of the 

 deer are very refractory and often throw down the women, 

 and butt at them with their antlers, for which, however, it 

 is stated that the women care little {Standard Natural 

 History). In the same work it is stated that in the rutting 

 season each old stag is polygamous and has a large harem, 

 and that when two stags fight, the victor adds the harem of 

 his opponent to his own herd. But after the fawns are born 

 the mother and fawn are said to be accompanied separately 

 by a single male, while large herds of young males and 

 females are led by an old female. Admiral von Wrangel, in 

 his account of his experiences in Siberia, states that he saw 

 large herds of wild reindeer migrating, and that each body 



