MAMMALIA 



267 



The deer family (Cervidce) is well represented on all the 

 continents except Africa. With the exception of the 

 caribou only the males of the deer possess antlers, and they 

 are always shed annually, and usually in February or March. 

 A new growth be- 

 gins at once and 

 continues so rap- 

 idly that antlers 

 like those of the 

 elk measuring four 

 feet are renewed 

 in less than four 

 months. The elk, 

 the largest species 

 of the round- 

 horned deer, 

 abounds in the 



vicinitv Of the Yel- FIG. 30S. Kocky Mountain goat. Photographed 

 Ui y in the Philadelphia Zoological Gardens. 



lowstone Park. 



The Virginia deer, also called white-tailed deer, inhabits 

 every state in the Union except Delaware, Oregon, Nevada, 

 California, and Arizona, but is most abundant in the 

 Adirondacks, Maine, Vermont, and Michigan. 



The moose, the largest species of the deer family, reaches 

 a height of nine feet. The overhanging nose, high-humped 

 shoulders, and huge flat antlers of the male distinguish it 

 from the other deer. It is found in northern United 

 States, Canada, and Alaska. The caribou or reindeer, both 

 sexes of which bear slightly flattened antlers, occupy the 

 upper half of the continents of North America and Eurasia, 

 where they feed upon moss and lichens. The domestic 



