118 



OEDERS OP MAMMALS— HOOFED ANIMALS 



nia. In all these states save three its destruc- 

 tion has been absolutely prohibited for periods 

 ranging from five to ten years, and it is hoped 

 and believed that all will very shortly provide 

 for its absolute protection. But has protec- 

 tion come to this species early enough to save 

 it? It is very doubtful. Says Mr. A. G. Walli- 

 han, in Outdoor Life, "Look at the Antelope! 

 But I don't know whether you can find any to 

 look at; for I don't think there are 50 in Routt 

 County [Colorado], where ten years ago there 

 were probably 50,000. They have almost com- 

 pletely disappeared here. No doubt a small 

 herd of a thousand or so went north into Wyo- 

 ming, but they will fare no better there." 



The destruction of this beautiful and interest- 

 ing creature is now absolutely inexcusable, and 

 for the good name of Americans generally it is 

 to be hoped that wherever a wild Prong-Horned 

 Antelope is now to be found, public sentiment 

 will protect it more powerfully and more per- 

 manently than can any statute law. 



THE DEER FAMILY. 



Cervidae. 



General Observations. — The Deer Family 

 is well represented on all continents, and on all 

 large islands, save Africa, Australia and New 

 Zealand. There are about forty-five well-de- 

 fined species, and many subspecies. With but 

 one or two exceptions, the species found in the 

 tropics and subtropics are scantily antlered, dull 

 in color, and covered with coarse, thin hair. 

 There is but one tropical deer which is really 

 beautiful, and that is the axis, or spotted deer, 

 of India and Ceylon. 



The following facts regarding the deer of the 

 world are worth remembering: 



The American Moose is the largest member of 

 the Deer Family, living or extinct.' 



The American Elk, or Wapiti, is the largest 

 and finest of all the round-horned deer. 



The Axis Deer is the most beautiful in color 

 of all deer. 



The Moose has the heaviest and most massive 

 antlers, with the widest spread. 



Male deer of most species have solid antlers, 

 of bone, branching into several tines. 



Deer shed their antlers, and renew them com- 

 pletely, every year. 



The young of nearly all round-horned deer are 

 spotted at birth. 



All adult male deer are dangerous in the mating 

 season, when their antlers are new and perfect. 



The female Caribou is the only female deer 

 with antlers. 



The best deer to keep in captivity in a park is 

 the Fallow Deer, of Europe; and outside of its 

 own home, the worst is the Columbian Black-Tail. 



Except as already stated, nearly every coun- 

 try in the world is provided with representa- 

 tives of the Deer Family, according to conditions. 

 Nature has fitted the caribou to live in the awful 

 lands of desolation in the far north, and the 

 moose in the forests fringing the Arctic bar- 

 rens. The elk is fashioned for the plains, the 

 foothills and open-timbered mountains of west- 

 ern America and central Asia. The white- 

 tailed deer skulks in safety through the thickest 

 forests of temperate North America, and in 

 India and the far East the axis deer, the sam- 

 bar, and the tiny muntjac, with only one or two 

 tines on each antler, have been formed to slip 

 through the tangled jungles with ease and safety. 



North America has the good fortune to be rich 

 in Cervidae. It has six prominent types, and 

 at this date (1903), a full count reveals twenty- 

 four recognized species and subspecies, which 

 form a group combining the grand, the beautiful 

 and the picturesque, and of very decided value 

 to man. In the exploration and settlement of 

 the United States, and the exploration of Alaska 

 and the far North, the wild herds have played an 

 important part. 



The unvarying distinctive mark by which any 

 American representative of the Deer Family can 

 be recognized is the presence on the male of solid 

 horns of bone, called antlers, which are shed once 

 a year, close down to the skull, and are fully re- 

 newed by rapidly growing out in a soft state called 

 "the velvet." When fully grown, the antlers 

 branch several times; but the first pair, which 

 are grown during the second year, are only two 

 straight and slender spikes, called "dag antlers." 

 The grouping of animals with antlers brings 

 together in the Deer Family not only the true 

 deer, but also the moose and caribou. 



Shedding and Renewal of Antlers. — At 

 this point it is necessary to emphasize certain 

 facts regarding the antlers of deer, elk, moose 

 and caribou. 



