THE MULE & THE WHITE-TAILED DEER 
S IX races of the mule, or black-tailed deer, are now recognized; 
five of them being smaller sub-species of the typical race. They 
are as follows: 
Odocoileus hemionus (Rafinesque, 1817). 
! O. h. californicus (Caton). This variety is slightly smaller and 
has a dark stripe along the back and upper surface of the tail. 
O. h. peninsulce (Lydekker). Small and brightly coloured. 
O. h. eretnicus (Mearns). Very pale variety. California. 
0. h. canus (Merriam). Very small and pale, grey in colour. Mexico. 
0. h. columbianus (Richardson). The coast black-tail of the Pacific Slope, 
with all black on the upper surface of the tail. The ears are also smaller 
and darker than in the typical race. 
The length of the typical mule deer of the Rocky Mountains is about 
5| feet; tail 7 inches. The usual weight of adult bucks is from 215 to 
230 lb. but specimens of 300 lb. are said to have been taken. The female 
is much smaller and weighs about 137 lb. 
In winter the pelage is a warm brownish -grey and the coat has a peppered 
appearance, owing to the presence of black tips and rings to the hair. A 
patch on the buttocks and upper surface of the tail is white, the end of 
the tail black. The head and throat are greyish or fawn-white, with a large 
black patch on the forehead and a black bar round the chin. The legs, below 
the knees and hocks, are rich Sienna brown. The breast is generally 
brownish -black, and underparts fawn. Caton points out that the short 
hair on the tail is only shed once a year, and it is said that the long black 
tail hairs are not shed at all. In summer the red coat is completed in May 
and retained until the middle of August, the legs slightly paler. The fawn 
is dull yellow and well spotted. 
The name jumping deer, owing to its bounding gait when first 
alarmed, is used in Manitoba. The French -Canadians call it Le Cerf Mulet, 
the Crees, Ap-is-chick-i-koosh (small moose), and the Sioux, Tah-chah. 
The name mule deer is used all over the west and is doubtless due to 
the large size of the ears of this animal, but the name black-tail is also 
frequently applied to it. 
Doubtless the first white travellers knew the mule deer, but it was 
not described and named until the Lewis and Clark expedition, in 1804, 
first found it on the Missouri. They mention it as the “ black -tailed or 
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