ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN 



1353 



exhibit a run-down condition during mid-sum- 

 mer, when they become enervated from heat and 

 fly-bites. Such a condition must be met with a 

 slight increase in the grain food, with an abun- 

 dance of succulent vegetables thoroughly cut up. 

 However, it is highly important when increas- 

 ing the food to watch carefully for intestinal 

 disturbances, and when any are observed at once 

 reduce the quantity of green food. Unless sys- 

 tematic study of the wants of these western 

 animals is jJursued, the writer would not rec- 

 ommend them as satisfactory for exhibition or 

 experimental breeding in the eastern United 

 States. In good health they breed as readily as 

 the white-tailed deer, both species occasionally 

 producing two fawns. The mule deer is a very 

 beautiful animal with showy antlers, and it de- 

 rives its name from its large ears. Adult males 

 may be purchased at from fifty to one hundred 

 dollars and females for seventy-five dollars. 

 Prices of mature examples of both sexes of the 

 true black-tailed deer are about twenty-five dol- 

 lars less than for the former species. All the 

 prices mentioned are those generally quoted in 

 the east. 



Of late there has been much interest in for- 

 eign deer, of which there are a number of at- 

 tractive species, of large, moderate and small 

 size. The commonest, least expensive and most 

 hardy species are the red deer and fallow deer. 

 Both are hardy, excellent for exhibition, and 

 among deer fanciers are well known. These are 

 the favorite park deer of all Europe, and the 

 English red deer has been introduced in New 

 Zealand with a degree of success that is nothing- 

 short of amazing. 



The large and showy sambar deer, of wliich 

 the more prominent species are the Indian and 

 Malayan sambars, are well worthy of the at- 

 tention of breeders, especially in the south. 

 While these animals are able to endure the 

 northern winter, if provided with large stalls 

 opening into a barn moderately heated, they 

 spend much of their time indoors during the 

 cold months. In the southern states, however, 

 these large deer could be handled under ideal 

 conditions, and the Indian sambar has been suc- 

 cessfully introduced on St. Vincent Island, near 

 Apalachicola, Fla., by the late Dr. Ray V. 

 Pierce. They are splendid breeding animals 

 and as adults weigh from 500 to 600 pounds, 

 the breeding of this species might well be con- 

 sidered for the purpose of producing venison. 



These deer sell in New York at one hundred 

 and fifty dollars each for the adult specimen. 



Another fine foreign species is the barasingha 

 deer, an Indian species of distinctly smaller 

 size than the sambar, which acquires an attrac- 

 tive golden-brown pelage in summer. 



Eld's deer, also called the Burmese thameng, 

 is a smaller species, characterized by the hori- 

 zontal brow tines of the antlers, which also give 

 it the name brow-antlered deer. We have been 

 uniformly successful in breeding all of them, 

 and our chief embarrassment has been in the 

 line of over-production. 



Among the smaller exotic deer the less showy 

 species are the sikas of eastern Asia and Japan, 

 and the hog deer of India. Both these species 

 thrive in captivity. The former requires no ar- 

 tificial heat during the winter. The hog deer 

 needs access to a stall, with a small door per- 

 manently open, in the interior of a building 

 moderately heated by a stove. Both the above 

 species are inclined toward great timidity, and 

 this is a drawback as compared with the more 

 sanguine disposition of the fallow deer, a uni- 

 versal favorite that needs no artificial heat. 



In reviewing the desirable types of deer it is 

 appropriate to particularly point out the beau- 

 tiful axis deer of India, which is permanently 

 spotted with snow-white, like the most attract- 

 ive fawns of certain other species. It is one 

 of the finest of all cervines for American parks, 

 either public or private, and there is no draw- 

 back to its maintenance that is at all serious. 

 The axis is reall}' the handsomest of all deer, 

 being beautifully spotted all the year round ; 

 and it is physically so sound and strong that 

 (here) none ever dies of disease! It is very pro- 

 lific, and also pacific. Rareh^ does it happen 

 that a male becomes so quarrelsome that he can- 

 not be left in the herd; and there is less fighting 

 between the members of this species than in any 

 other species we know. Temperamentally, the 

 only flaw in the axis deer is extreme nervous- 

 ness about being caught and handled, and in 

 making shipments from a herd this is some- 

 times a very troublesome handicap. 



Our axis deer are always fat and in fine con- 

 dition, and no one can resist their beauty. The 

 only drawback in their maintenance, in com- 

 parison with the fallow, sika and our native 

 ,deer, is the fact that in the three cold months 

 of winter they need in the center of their barn 

 a cheap, base-burner stove and about two tons 



