Waterbury evening Democrat., 1903-12-31
CHARACTERISTICS OF DEER.
An interesting Account of It's Home and Habits, Changes in Ap-
 pearance, Etc.

The deer wherever it exists, has all ways been regarded with interest and admiration on account of it's fieetness, grace and beauty, in which 1t far sur passes all other quadrupeds. 1t also furnishes a staple article of food. While the pursuit of this game yields to the hunter and sportsman the keenest de- light. writes R. Wesley Fisher, in the Brooklyn Eagle. The species which in habit our northern forests are known variously as the Virginia deer, red deer. common deer and white tailed deer. It is classified by the patura1ists as be- longing to the order of the Ungulata. the family of the Ceridae, and the spe- cies Caricus virginianus, or Cervus Virginianus. The name given to the species would indicate that it was first observed by the naturalists in Virginia Its habitat extends from the Canadian forests southward to the gulf of Mex ico and from the Atlantic coast west ward to the Missouri river In the southern states, especially in the Caro- inas, where th1s kind of game is still found, the species is compared favor ably with those of Maine and Michigan, where the species seem the best. Tn the Adirondack regions it attains a maximum weight of about $50 pounds. The deer is ruminant and it's meat IS an excellent article of food. The savory. digestible qualities of venison, when properly prepared and cooked. are so well known that further mention in this respect is unnecessary. Like all other ruminants, the deer has four gtomachs. The animal has no front teeth in its upper jaw and crops the grass or browses in the same manner as a COW when feeding. The male is distinguished by being greater in size than the female and by it's beautiful branching antlers which grace it's head. These horns are solid, thus creating a natural distinction from the hollow horned ruminants. such as the antelope and the oxen. The antlers are shed and renewed each year, those of the Adiron- dack deer falling of in January. When the horns have dropped or have been knocked off by the buck in rubbing them against trees as if desirous of getting rid of them, the bony process of the skull in which each antler rests is left naked and bloody for time. These cavities are soon covered with vascu- lar growth that is protected by rough. dark colored skin. This growth is suc- ceeded within 20 or 30 days by a convex swelling, soft and tender, through which the blood flows somewhat freely and which will bleed if cut or injured. From these knob-like elevations the new horns originate, lengthen rapidly and, branching into several prongs. soon become hard and smooth. The full size of the antlers is attained in July. Up to this time the horns are covered with a soft, hairy skin or covering and the horns are then said to be "in their vel vet" This peels of in ragged strips and the animal, on account of an itching sensation, rubs it's antlers against trees and limbs, by which action 1t denudes the horns of this covering While in the velvet, the horns are soft and warm to the touch. indicating still action Of blood If the horns are prematurely divested of the velvet. as is sometimes done by hunters, the antlers present a raw, bloody appearance.