The White-Tailed Deer 
21 
The fawns are born in May or June, usually only one though 
some times two are born. The weight at birth is about four 
pounds. The rut, as in the other deer, is in the autumn, 
and fierce battles are often waged between the rival bucks. 
But they are not polygamous, a buck usually having but a 
single mate, though they have been known to have two or 
more. The antlers are shed early in the winter, the new 
growth begins immediately, the full size is attained by 
the middle of August, and the velvet is rubbed off and the 
horns are polished up ready for battle by the middle of the 
succeeding month. Many pairs of interlocked horns have 
been found at various times and places, attached to the skulls, 
and occasionally the dead bodies also, of deer which had 
thus become entangled and been unable to separate them- 
selves, and perished of starvation. 
In the East and South the White-tailed Deer was at one 
time exceedingly abundant, and found in great numbers. 
Then in many localities it was practically exterminated, but 
with the protection afforded by stringent laws is once more 
regaining its numbers. 
Some twelve or more forms of the White-tailed Deer have 
been described by naturalists. These vary much in size, the 
northern forms being much the largest, specimens of these 
having been known to attain a weight of 350 pounds, while 
those from Florida and some parts of Mexico are much 
smaller, full grown bucks weighing 100 pounds or less. 
The sight of all our American deer seems to be poor, 
though their sense of smell is excellent, and it is on that 
which they depend largely as a means of detecting the 
presence of an enemy. Certain it is that a deer will stand 
and look at a motionless person who is out in plain sight 
without taking any alarm until a movement is made, when 
away it will go. This has been my own experience, and 
that of many others with whom I have talked, and most 
