ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY 

 BULLETIN 



Published by the New York Zoological Society 



Vol. XIX 



MAY, 1916 



Number 3 



DEER EOR PARKS AND PRESERVES 



Bij Raymond L. Ditmars. 



WE have many queries as to the best spe- 

 cies of deer with which to stock parks 

 and private preserves. One corre- 

 spondent may wish to keep several species of 

 native deer, and wishes to know which thrive 

 best. Another may desire to breed either na- 

 tive or foreign deer for sale. There are numer- 

 ous queries from owners of large estates who 

 desire to breed deer for the pleasure of seeing 

 the animals practically at liberty in their for- 

 ests. Some of the latter prefer native deer, 

 while others are partial to the more showy ex- 

 otic species. It is to cover some of these quer- 

 ies that this article has been prepared. 



Unfortunately many species of our native 

 deer are not nearly so hardy when removed 

 from their native haunts as are several of the 

 foreign species. With the exception of the 

 American elk or wapiti, all American species 

 must be very carefully fed and tended for a 

 number of months following their transplanta- 

 tion. Unless expert care is given them, there 

 may be losses. Several species of the North 

 American cervines are quite unable to endure 

 captivity in the eastern states. These are the 

 moose and caribou. The real reasons are by no 

 means fully understood, but the difficulty does 

 not lie altogether in their food. The same 

 trouble is met, but to a less serious degree, in 

 acclimatizing the western mule deer and the 

 Columbian black-tailed deer. 



We have long since ceased to make experi- 

 ments with the moose and caribou, because the 

 exhibition of these animals is nothing less than, 

 slow murder. With the white-tailed deer we 

 have had little difficulty. After long and sys- 



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tematic study, we have been successful in main- 

 taining specimens of the mule and black-tailed 

 deer and have successfully bred both those spe- 

 cies. Their longevity as captives on exhibition 

 here is in the order named. 



It should be understood that all our North 

 American deer are browsing animals, and feed 

 largely upon leaves and the ends of tender 

 branches. This is a difficult food to match un- 

 less such animals are to be turned into a large 

 forested estate. Here such species as the white- 

 tail, mule and black-tailed deer will usually 

 thrive with but little artificial food during the 

 summer, although they require hay (clover) and 

 oats (coarsely crushed) during the winter 

 months. While it might seem theoretically pos- 

 sible to maintain the moose under such condi- 

 tions, it is a question with this animal of sup- 

 plying specific kinds of browse. With the cari- 

 bou there is a necessit}^ of certain rock mosses, 

 which spoil by heating when packed and 

 shipped. 



Thus among our North American cervines we 

 may figure four species available for amateur 

 breeding: the elk, white-tailed deer, mule deer 

 and black-tailed deer. Among these the males 

 of the first named species are usually very dan- 

 gerous and inclined to make unprovoked attacks 

 during the breeding season. The acclimatiza- 

 tion of elk is a simple matter, as these animals 

 easily endure both heat and cold. They thrive 

 upon a simple diet of clover hay and coarsely- 

 crushed oats, and in summer may be turned into 

 pasture if the grass is not too rank from undue 

 moisture in the ground. They are less inclined 

 to browse as food than the smaller deer, and 

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