THE MULE AND WHITE-TAILED DEER 
yellowish -brown. It is paler round the eyes and very dark on the upper 
side of the tail, and a black spot is found on each side of the chin. There is 
a band across the nose, a ring round the eyes of pure white, and white on 
the insides of the ears, a patch on the throat, inside each leg, on the belly 
and underside of the tail. In winter the red parts are all replaced by grey. 
The sexes are alike and the young reddish -yellow with very white spots, 
this coat being retained for four months. 
The following local races are recognized as well as the typical species: 
Odocoileus virginianus (Bodd). The typical form. Winter and summer 
pelage nearly alike. 
0. v. borealis (Miller). Paler in colour and much larger than the above. 
Winter coat coarser and greyer than summer. 
O. v. macrourus (Raf ). Paler than the first named. 
0. v. leucurus (Douglas). With little black and more white. 
O. v. texanus (Mearns). Smaller and paler than the type. 
0. v. osceola (Bangs). Same as texanus but very dark. 
O. v. louisiance (Allen). Like the typical race but paler and with a slender 
skull. 
There is little distinction between most of the above beyond tint and size, 
and even then the differences are so small that sportsmen fail to take 
notice of them. From Canada to Mexico it is just a white -tail, and scien- 
tists will probably never alter common parlance. 
Thomas Hariot, an English mathematician in the service of Sir Walter 
Ralegh, when he visited Virginia in 1584, seems to have been the first 
white man to describe this animal. “ They differ,” he says, “ from ours 
only in this, their tailes are longer, and the snags of their homes look back- 
wards.” Hence we get the name of “ Virginian deer,” still commonly 
used. The French Canadians speak of it as “ Chevreuil ” or “ Le Dain 
fauve a queue blanche.” The Cree and Ojibway name is “ Wab-ai-ush , ” 
and the Sioux call it “ Tah-heen-chd-lah .” 
Taken as a whole, the white-tail had, twenty-five years ago, disap- 
peared from much of its old habitat in Eastern North America, but owing 
to protection it has now regained a proportion of its former territory. 
In 1890 there were very few white-tail left in New York State, but to-day 
the species is spreading rapidly, even close to New York itself. It is also 
increasing fast in Manitoba, Minnesota, British Columbia and Alberta. 
Formerly it was very abundant in Wyoming, but must now be considered 
almost a rare animal. 
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