24 RAISING DEER IN THE UNITED STATES. 



SMALL DEER. 



The exotic species thus far mentioned are as large as our common 

 deer, or larger. On our American farms; and ranches, especially in 

 the South, there is a distinct demand for a food animal of smaller 

 size than the sheep for family use. A number of species of small 

 Asiatic deer might admirably fill this want. Among them are 

 several of the muntjacs (Cervulus) and the Chinese water deer 

 (Hydrelaphus inermis). 



The Indian muntjac (Cervulus muutjac) is probably the best- 

 known species of this genus. It is a beautiful little deer, with small 

 horns, and stands 20 to 22 inches high. The animals live in thickets 

 and tall grass, and are said to be solitary except when pairing. 

 They are timid and seldom seen except when running away from 

 beaters. When cornered they defend themselves with the long 

 canine teeth and not with horns and hoofs like other deer. The 

 period of gestation is six months, and two young are produced 

 at a time. The animals feed like sheep on almost any herbage. 

 They thrive in English parks and would probably flourish in our 

 Southern States. The flesh is said to be excellent. 



The Chinese water deer is less solitary in its habits, but in size and 

 some other characteristics it is like the muntjacs. It is the most 

 prolific of all the deer family, the female producing three or four 

 young at a time. It is suited to marshy lands. 



If any one of the various small species of deer or even antelope 

 could be raised in the Southern States, it would furnish the farmers 

 a much needed form of meat, which could be provided fresh every 

 day or two as needed. Aside from fowls most of our domestic ani- 

 mals are too large for immediate consumption by the ordinary 

 farmer's family. The successful introduction and breeding of a 

 small mammal, in size intermediate between a hare and a sheep, 

 would be of sufficient economic importance to warrant the expendi- 

 ture of considerable sums of money in experiments. But this state- 

 ment is true also of the domestication of any other deer. 



OBJECTIONS TO THE INTRODUCTION OF FOREIGN ANIMALS. 



In suggesting the acclimatization of foreign game animals, the 

 Biological Survey does not advocate their indiscriminate introduction 

 into the United States nor the immediate release of any of them to 

 resume their wild life. The history of the introduction of beneficial 

 animals into new localities should teach caution in such experiments. 

 Even species fully domesticated have become injurious when neg- 

 lected and allowed to run wild. Devastations of crops by horses, 

 cattle, pigs, and goats, introduced into new countries for domestic 

 use and afterwards abandoned, have been known in many parts of 



