RUMINANTS WHICH SHED THEIR HORNS.
AMERICAN DEER.
The distinctive characteristic of the animals of this group consists in the texture, shape and manner of growth of their frontal protuberances. These projections, which are called antlers, and not horns, are bony, solid, and more or less branching. They do not have the horny casing which exists in all Hollow-horned Ruminants. They fall off and are renewed at a certain period every year up to a certain age, and it is because of this peculiarity that these animals are known as Ruminants with deciduous horns.
In the full grown animal the antler is composed of a cylindrical or flattened stem, according to the genus, which is called the brow-antler, from which branch out at intervals slighter or shorter additions, called tines or branches. The base of the brow-antler is surrounded by a circle of small bony excrescences, which afford a passage to the blood vessels intended to provide for the growth of the antler; these are called burrs.
There are various terms used to indicate the growth of the antlers. In the first place, on the brow of the young animal, two small elevations or knobs are seen to make their appearance, above each of which there soon grows a projection of cartilage, which finally assumes a bony texture.
Until they become perfectly hard, these two early sprouts are protected from any external friction by a kind of velvety skin, which dries up as soon as the cartilage turns to bone.
The short horns which then adorn its brow take the name of dags. At the commencement of the third year the dags fall off, but soon after they are replaced by other and longer ones, which throw out their first tines; and from this time they are considered as entitled to the name of antler.
The falling off and periodical renewal of these bony projections is really a very curious phenomenon. It seems as if it ought to take several years for the horns to regain, as they do, equal or even larger dimensions than their predecessors; nevertheless, they shoot out all complete in the space of a few weeks. Still, the explanation of this fact is simple enough.
The skin which covers the base of the antlers of this animal is traversed by a large number of blood vessels, which supply the phosphate of lime necessary to solidify the bony parts. Up to the time when the antler has acquired the full growth which it is to attain in each year, this skin continues to receive the requisite flow of blood; it retains, in fact, its living action. But as soon as the growth is complete, and it becomes bony, the burrs increase in size, strangulate the vessels, and stop the flow of the alimentary fluid. This skin then withers and comes away from the antler, which, thus laid bare and no longer receiving nourishment, gradually wastes away or decays, and falls off at the end of a few months, again making its appearance in the approaching season.
Nearly all the members of this family are remarkable for the elegance of their shape, the dignity of their attitudes, the grace and vivacity of their movements, the slenderness of their limbs, and the sustained rapidity of their flight. They have a very short tail; moderately sized and pointed ears, and their eyes are clear and full of gentleness.
The coat of Ruminants which shed their horns is generally brown or fawn-colored. It is composed of short, close and brittle hair, which assumes a somewhat woolly nature in the inclement regions of the extreme north, more especially in the winter season.
These Ruminants live in small droves or herds in forests, on mountains or plains, and feed on leaves, buds, grass, moss, or the bark of trees, etc. They are distributed over all the surface of the globe, both in the hottest and coldest climates. The Reindeer and Elk are peculiar to the northern regions of both continents; but numerous species are, on the contrary, found in hot and temperate countries.
The family of Ruminants which shed their horns comprehends three genera—the Reindeer, the Elk, and the Deer proper—all differing in the shape and size of their antlers.
THE REINDEER.
REINDEER.
The Reindeer is of about the size of the Red Deer, but its legs are shorter and thicker. The horns, which exist in both sexes, are divided into several branches; at first they are slender and pointed, but as they grow they extend, and ultimately terminate in broad and toothed palmations. The hair of this animal, which is brown in summer, becomes almost white as winter approaches—a circumstance which accounts for the idea among the ancients, that the “Tarandus” could assume any color it thought proper.
The Reindeer is met with only in the extreme north of Europe and of America. It is more especially a native of Lapland, where it is as serviceable to the sojourner in those icy regions as the Camel to the inhabitants of the sandy desert. The Laplanders keep numerous flocks of them, drive them in summer-time to the mountains of their country, and in winter cause them to return to the plains, where they use them as beasts of burden and of draught, eat their flesh, feed their children with their milk, and clothe themselves with their skins. “These useful animals,” says Mr. Lloyd, “not only mainly contribute to the subsistence, but constitute the chief riches of that nomade people. Without the Reindeer, indeed, the Lapp could hardly contrive to exist in the dreary region he inhabits, the needful provender being too scanty to admit of the well-being of other animals, such as Sheep and horned Cattle, which in more southern countries are made subservient to the purposes of Man.”
“A large herd of Reindeer,” says Lloyd in his Scandinavian Adventures, “traversing the open country or the surface of a frozen lake, as the case may be, when the Lapp is changing his encampment, is a very magnificent sight. In the front walks a Man leading a Reindeer, or perhaps the Man quite alone, who only now and then calls to the animals, which, at a few paces’ distance, faithfully follow where he leads.
“In the first ranks of the herd one commonly sees many noble males, who proudly elevate their heads, attired with large and branching antlers. The rest of the herd follow one another in close phalanx. It resembles a wondrous moving forest, whose innumerably branched crowns, with their rapid and constantly shifting motion, make the most pleasing impression on the eye and mind of the spectator.
“The Lapp sometimes calls a great herd of Reindeer a sava, or sea, a figurative expression, beautiful as faithful; taken, probably, not only from the immensity of the ocean, but from its surface being in constant undulatory motion.”
THE ELKS.
ELK OR MOOSE.
The Elk, or Moose Deer, the typical representative of this sub-family, is an ungainly-looking animal, as large as, or larger than an ordinary Horse. It seems to be raised on legs of disproportionate height. Its muzzle is broad and pendulous; its throat swollen, as if it was afflicted with a goitre; while its hair is rough and of an ashy color of variable shades. The horn of the Elk is at first dagger-shaped, and then divided into strips; but at the age of five years, it assumes the shape of a broad triangular expansion, with prongs upon its outer margin. The weight of these horns increases with the age of the animal, until they weigh fifty or sixty pounds, and present as many as fourteen antlers or projections from each horn.
This animal inhabits the forests of the north, both of the European and American continents, where it may be seen in small herds, making its way through the marshy forests. It is an excellent swimmer, and from the peculiar structure of its hoofs, able to cross marshy ground with great facility. The sense of smell in the Elk is exceedingly acute; and when once he scents a pursuer, he darts away with lightning speed, and usually without a single pause till he is four or five miles away from the object of his fear. He frequents in summer low and marshy ground, where water and trees abound; while in winter he resorts to thicker shelter on higher levels. The Elk feeds chiefly by day, in the summer on the bark, leaves and small branches of young trees, and various species of grasses. In the winter he adds to his food the leaves of various firs, and different kinds of lichens.
THE DEER PROPER.
The animals classified under this title include a large number of species distributed over the warm and temperate regions of both continents. The animals are remarkable for their grace and agility. The various species differ somewhat in the shape of their antlers, and the color of their coat, which is sometimes all of a fawn-colored shade, sometimes dotted over with white spots during their youth, and sometimes mottled during the whole of their life. The principal species are the Common Stag, or Red Deer, the Large Stag of Canada, or Wapiti, the Virginian Stag, the Axis, the Porcine Deer, the Fallow Deer, and the Common Roe.
THE RED DEER.
The Red Deer is certainly one of the most beautiful of European animals, owing to the majestic antlers which adorn its head, and its stately and graceful bearing. This quadruped is about the size of a small Horse. Its coat, which varies according to the season, changes from light brown in summer to greyish in winter. It has generally a very gentle and timid disposition, and dreads the presence of Man, taking flight at the slightest alarm. On the contrary, when not disturbed, it manifests an amount of laziness which contrasts strangely with its extraordinary agility.
When arrived at a certain age, and in full possession of all its strength, the Stag loves solitude, and in localities where possible, confines itself during the whole summer to thickets and woods, scarcely coming forth except at night to search for sustenance; this done, it again retires to the thickest brake, to rest and digest its food. At the end of autumn it visits the plains, making its way into badly-enclosed gardens, where it satisfies its appetite with the agriculturist’s cereals and fruit. If there should not be a sufficiency of the latter on the ground, the Stag increases the supply by standing upright against the trunk of the tree, and using its antlers as a pole to knock down enough to satisfy its appetite.
The favorite food of the Red Deer is grass, leaves, fruits and buds; but as none of these can be found in winter, it is compelled to eat moss, heath and lichens. When the ground is covered with snow it will feed upon the bark of trees. At this season of the year these animals assemble in numerous herds under the tallest trees of the forest, to obtain shelter from the north wind, when they crowd closely against one another for warmth.
The Stag produces every year a new head of horns; and its age is generally indicated by them. At six years of age it is said to possess a full head; in the following years, and up to the end of its life, it is known as a Royal Stag.
THE CANADIAN STAG.
A magnificent species of Stag is found in North America, which is called the Large Stag of Canada, or Wapiti. This animal bears some resemblance to the Elk. It is easily tamed, and soon becomes used to confinement. The North American Indians catch it in snares when young, and rear it with care. At maturity they harness it to their sledges during the winter, and its powerful frame enables it to draw heavy loads. Its flesh, which is excellent, forms a large portion of the Red Man’s sustenance.
THE VIRGINIAN DEER.
The Virginian Deer is common in the United States, where it is the favorite animal of chase. It is larger than the Fallow Deer, and is excessively abundant in some portions of this country; but so many of them are annually slaughtered that, before a hundred years are past, says Audubon, this animal will have become an extraordinary rarity. Their death is generally accomplished by the hunter stalking on them unawares, when they are shot; or driving them from cover when their favorite passes (which are easily distinguished by the experienced) are guarded by marksmen.
THE SAMBOO, AXIS AND PORCINE DEER.
The Indian continent and Malay Islands produce several very remarkable species of Stags. First let us mention the Samboo, or Aristotle Deer, so called because it was first described by that celebrated philosopher of antiquity; then the Axis, a very elegant animal with a fawn-colored coat speckled with white, and horns furnished with only two branches; and lastly, the Porcine Deer, which owes its name to its small size and massive shape. In Bengal, these two last named species are reared in a domesticated state, and fattened for the table.
THE FALLOW DEER.
The Fallow Deer holds a middle place in size between the Red Deer and the Roe. Its height, at the withers, is little more than ten hands. It may be easily recognized by its horns, which are round at the base, and palmated above. Its coat, like that of the Axis, is fawn-colored or brown, dotted over with white spots, which in summer are very distinctly marked, but are scarcely perceptible in winter. Its habits differ but slightly from those of the Red Deer.
The Fallow Deer is found over a large part of Europe, in the north of Africa and also in Asia Minor.
THE COMMON ROE.
The Roe Deer is one of the most elegant and graceful representatives of this group. It does not measure much more than a yard in length. Its horns are small, and very simple in their shape. They are composed of a deeply indented stem, which is straight for the greater part of its length, and furnished at the top with two branches, forming a fork at the extremity. Its coat is a uniform fawn-color, the shade of which varies with the season.
The Roes frequent young woods and thickets in the vicinity of cultivated ground, where they delight to crop the buds and shoots, thus doing considerable mischief in plantations. They are timid, intelligent and gentle; the least unaccustomed noise frightens them. Still, all their precautions are not sufficient to protect them against the multitude of huntsmen eager for their capture—an eagerness the more excusable as the Roe furnishes the finest venison.