THE MAMMALS OF FLORIDA. II3 
Famity CERVIDE. Tue DEER. 
CARIACUS VIRGINIANUS (Sodd.). 
Deer. 
Deer are still very numerous in the less settled portions of the 
State. The Florida deer is a small Southern race of the Virginia 
species. A full-grown buck will often weigh less than one hundred 
pounds, and I have killed yearling bucks which weighed under 
ninety pounds. 
Of course it is not unusual to find considerably larger specimens, 
but the average Florida deer is small. I have been told that deer 
have been killed in Northern Florida which would weigh nearly 
two hundred pounds. The bucks drop their horns about the first of 
February. 
Famity MANATID-E. Tue MANATEEs. 
TRICHECHUS LATIROSTRIS arian. 
Manatee. 
The manatee occurs commonly in many of the bays and rivers 
of South Florida. It lives equally in salt and fresh water, going 
into the rivers to feed on the grass, and, as some authors claim, the 
leaves of the mangrove trees. 
They were at one time abundant in the St. Lucie River, anda 
number have been captured alive in that river in rope-nets made for 
the purpose. 
Although of such great size, it is a gentle, harmless animal, very 
timid and shy. The flesh is much esteemed by the Indians, and 
also by some of the white inhabitants. The Indians kill a number 
of them each year in the vicinity of New River. They harpoon 
them in the rivers or in the ocean near the mouth of some river. 
The Florida manatee is very similar to that found in Central 
or South America, and perhaps should not be recognized as a dis- 
tinct species. 
The manatee grows to an immense size, sometimes attaining a 
length (it is claimed) of fifteen feet. The skin is very coarse 
