518 



THE CLOVEN-HOOFED ANIMALS. 



it ceases tlirusting with its horns, and defends itself 

 by striking with its forelegs, after the manner of 

 the doe. \yhen one horn has been cast, the un- 

 balanced weight of the remaining horn causes the 

 animal to carry its head inclined to one side, and to 

 frequently shake it, as if to hasten the casting of the 

 annoying member. 

 Distribution and The Deer were originally distributed 

 General Traits over a large part of the globe. At 

 of Deer. present they inhabit all continents, 

 with the exception of the Ethiopian belt and Aus- 

 tralia; they exist in nearly all climates, in plains and 

 in mountains, in the open country and in woods. 

 All Deer are lively, timid and fleet creatures, quick 

 and agile of movement and keen of sense, but 

 endowed rather poorly mentally. The method of 

 vocal expression consists of short, dull grunting or 

 roaring sounds in the male and a shrill bleating in 

 the female. 



The food of the Deer is of an exclusively vege- 

 table nature; at least it has never been proven 



, whether or not, as has been affirmed, the Reindeer 

 eat Lemmings. Herbage, buds, leaves, the needles 

 of the fir and pine, blossoms, cereals, fruit, berries, 

 young shoots and branches, bark, moss, lichens and 

 mushrooms are their main articles of food. They 

 are very fond of salt and require water. 



The young Deer make their appearance, one or 

 two, or in rare cases three at a birth, perfectly de- 

 veloped, and they follow their mother about within 

 a few days after birth. With a few species the 

 father as well as the mother shows a kind regard for 

 the offspring. The fawns take great pleasure in re- 

 ceiving the caresses which their mothers bestow on 

 them, and the mothers take the utmost care of the 

 fawns and valiantly defend them when in danger. 

 In localities where agriculture and forestry are 

 pursued according to the requirements of modern 

 times, Deer can not be tolerated. The damage 

 wrought by these beautiful animals exceeds the 

 slight use which they are to Man. Unquestion- 

 ably they are inimical to the cultivation of the 

 ground and the proper keeping of the forest. If it 

 were not for the chase, which is justly considered to 

 be one of the noblest and manliest of sports, all Deer 

 would long ago have been exterminated in every 

 densely peopled agricultural country. This point 

 has not yet been reached; but all the members of 

 this family, distinguished as it is in so many respects, 

 are nearly everywhere approaching their doom and 

 probably will soon be seen only in parks and zoo- 

 logical garden^. 

 Domestication of The taming of Deer is not as easy as 

 Deer Somewhat is usually supposed. Those which 

 Difficult. have been from early times in pos- 

 session of Man, and have become accustomed to 

 him, exhibit an amiable, trustful and affectionate 

 temper when they are young. As age increases, 

 however, all these qualities gradually disappear and 

 nearly all old Deer are cross, vicious and pugnacious 



' creatures. Even the one species that has been 

 domesticated for a great length of time, the Rein- 

 deer, is no exception to this rule. Its domestica- 

 tion is by no means a perfect one, such as we see in 

 other Ruminants, but is only partially successful. 



THE ELKS. 



We will place the giants of the family at the 

 head. The Elks (Alces) at present have only one 

 representative, or, if the American Moose is re- 

 garded as a distinct species, two. They are huge, 



clumsy, long-legged animals; their antlers broadly 

 expand, somewhat like spades, and are marked by 

 finger-like indentations with many spurs; they have 

 small tear-pits, hair tufts on the inner side of the 

 tarsus and glands between the toes, but no canine 

 teeth. The head is ugly, the hairy upper lip pro- 

 jects over the lower; the eyes are small, the ears 

 long and broad; the tail is very short. 



The European Elk The Elk {Alces palmatus or Cervics 

 Known in Early alces) has enjoyed a wide celebrity 

 Ages. from early ages. The origin of the 



name is not quite clear: some hold that it has been 

 corrupted from the old word "elent," which sig- 

 nifies strong; others believe it to come from the 

 Sclavic word "jelen" (Deer). The old Roman au- 

 thors speak of the Elk as a German animal. Julius 

 Csesar said: "There are Alces in the Hircynian for- 

 est, animals resembling Goats in shape and variety 

 of color, but larger, devoid of horns and with joint- 

 less feet. Never do they lie down to rest, nor can 

 they get up, when once they have fallen. They lean 

 against trees, when sleeping; therefore the hunter 

 undermines the trees or chops them nearly in two 

 so that they fall down, along with the animals, 

 which lean against them." In writings of the mid- 

 dle ages the animal is mentioned quite frequently, 

 also in the song of the Nibelungen, in which it is- 

 called Elk. 



Diminished Range Within the last few hundred years 

 of the European the number of Elks in Europe has 

 ^"'- undergone a yery rapid and consider- 



able decrease. Elks are now kept in small herds 

 in Germany in forest preserves, under the strictest 

 supervision; and the Elk is found" in the free state in 

 the higher latitudes of all wooded countries of Eu- 

 rope and Asia. In Europe it is confined to the low- 

 lands about the Baltic, meaning Lithuania, Corland 

 and Livonia, except eastern Prussia, as well as in 

 Sweden, Norway and a few regions of Russia. In 

 Asia the Elk is much more common; it spreads there 

 north of the fiftieth parallel over the entire north to 

 the Amoor and occurs wherever there are extensive 

 forests. 



The Elk is a powerful animal. The length of 

 body of an adult Elk ranges between eight feet eight 

 inches and nine feet eight inches; the tail is about 

 four inches long and the height at the withers aver- 

 ages six feet four inches. Very old animals may 

 weigh as much as one thousand pounds; the average 

 weight, however, varies between six hundred and 

 eight hundred pounds. The body of the Elk is 

 comparatively short and stout, broad in the chest; 

 high, with an incipient hump on the withers; straight 

 along the back, low at the croup. It is supported 

 by very long, vigorous legs of equal length, terminat- 

 ing in narrow, straight, deeply-cloven hoofs, which 

 are joined to one another by an elastic connecting 

 membrane; the rudimentary toes slightly touch the 

 ground. The shorty stout, strong neck supports a 

 large, elongated head, narrowing in front of the eyes 

 and terminating in a long, thick, bulbous snout, 

 abruptly flattened in front. The antlers of the male 

 each consists of a large, plain, expanded, triangular, 

 flat, spade-shaped and furrowed blade, serrated with 

 numerous spurs along its outer edge, and supported 

 by a short, thick, rounded shaft; both these shafts 

 are marked with small knob-like protuberances, and 

 are set on short, bony prominences at the upper ex- 

 terior angles of the skull, and curve laterally from 

 their bases. The antlers may weigh as much as forty 

 pounds. The hair of the Elk is long, thick and 



