THE FAWN 
f| ERCILESS in the past has been the slaughter 
,, of deer by our hunters and it seems 
quite miraculous that we still have in 
North America in our wildernesses 
and forest preserves, three native species 
of deer. The moose is the largest; it has a short neck, 
and its food is largely twigs of trees and bushes; 
the caribou lives on the cold, dry plains of British 
America and is the reindeer of America, although it 
has never been domesticated. But the most com- 
mon of the three species is the Virginian deer, 
which once dwelt everywhere in our forests, and 
still breeds in our forest preserves in abundance. 
This is the deer which we are most likely to have as 
pets, although the fallow deer of Europe has been 
introduced into America as a park pet. 
Our Virginia deer, also called the white-tailed, 
has a coat that is khaki colored, as is shown by the 
numbers of hunters in khaki coats which are shot 
by mistake each year during the hunting season. 
The underparts of the animal are white, and the 
fawns are spotted with white. The little fawn needs 
to remain hidden while the mother feeds, and its 
spotted coat looks like the ground flecked with sun- 
shine, and so it is protected from the sight of its 
enemies. While the large, liquid eyes of the deer 
are fairly keen, yet these animals trust to their sense 
of smell and hearing to give them warning of their 
enemies, from whom they escape by flight. They 
are rapid runners, and tremendous jumpers and 
excellent swimmers. The farmers whose lands ad- 
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