I walk by a chain link fenced-in back yard with four artificial deer statues. The family who lives here must either be avid deer hunters or deer worshippers, i.e. those who want to protect the sanctity of animals, including deer. I am not a deer hunter, nor will I ever be. At a church event before COVID-19 to discuss gun violence, I was shocked to learn that of the eight people at my table, only two of us had childhoods without guns in our homes. My main interaction with deer is watching the movie “Bambi” as a child. Although, I will have to admit I tasted venison at a friend’s home, and it was tasty. I was also fortunate to be able to watch the gentle creatures we call deer when I worked at Deer Trail Lodge in Ely, Minnesota. (See my “Clear Water Memories” post on Sunday, April 19, 2020 for a description of my summer there.) I often saw only the white of their tails as they were running away. Let’s find out more about these lovely creatures.
Images of a few members of the family Cervidae (counterclockwise from top left) consisting of the red deer, the sika deer, the barasingha, the reindeer, and the white-tailed deer, and the grey brocket, and the elk, and the pudú.
According to Wikipedia, deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, the fallow deer, and the chital; and the Capreolinae, including the reindeer (caribou), the roe deer, the mule deer and the moose. Female reindeer and male deer of all species — except the Chinese water deer — grow and shed new antlers each year. In this they differ from the permanently horned antelope, which are part of a different family (Bovidae) within the same order of even-toed ungulates (Artiodactyla).
The musk deer (Moschidae) of Asia and chevrotains (Tragulidae) of tropical African and Asian forests are separate families within the ruminant clade (Ruminantia). They are not especially closely related to deer among the Ruminantia.
Deer appear in art from Paleolithic cave paintings onwards, and they have played a role in mythology, religion and literature throughout history, as well as in heraldry, such as red deer occur in the coat of arms of Åland. Their economic importance includes the use of their meat as venison, their skins as soft, strong buckskin and their antlers as handles for knives. Deer hunting has been a popular activity since at least the Middle Ages and remains a resource for many families today.
Distribution
Deer live in a variety of biomes, ranging from tundra to the tropical rainforest. While often associated with forests, many deer are ecotone species that live in transitional areas between forests and thickets (for cover) and prairie and savanna (open space). The majority of large deer species inhabit temperate mixed deciduous forests, mountain mixed coniferous forests, tropical seasonal/dry forests and savanna habitats around the world. Clearing open areas within forests to some extent may actually benefit deer populations by exposing the understory or underbrush and allowing the types of grasses, weeds and herbs to grow that deer like to eat. Additionally, access to adjacent croplands may also benefit deer. However, adequate forest or brush cover must still be provided for populations to grow and thrive.
Deer are widely distributed, with indigenous representatives in all continents except Antarctica and Australia, though Africa has only one native deer, the Barbary stag, a subspecies of red deer that is confined to the Atlas Mountains in the northwest of the continent. An additional extinct species of deer, Megaceroides algericus, was present in North Africa until 6,000 years ago. Fallow deer have been introduced to South Africa. Small species of brocket deer and pudús of Central and South America, and muntjacs of Asia generally occupy dense forests and are less often seen in open spaces, with the possible exception of the Indian muntjac. There are also several species of deer that are highly specialized and live almost exclusively in mountains, grasslands, swamps and "wet" savannas or riparian corridors surrounded by deserts. Some deer have a circumpolar distribution in both North America and Eurasia. Examples include the caribou that live in Arctic tundra and taiga (boreal forests) and moose that inhabit taiga and adjacent areas. Huemul deer (taruca and Chilean huemul) of South America's Andes fill the ecological niches of the ibex and wild goat, with the fawns behaving more like goat kids.
The highest concentration of large deer species in temperate North America lies in the Canadian Rocky Mountain and Columbia Mountain regions between Alberta and British Columbia where all five North American deer species — white-tailed deer, mule deer, caribou, elk and moose — can be found. This region has several clusters of national parks including Mount Revelstoke National Park, Glacier National Park (Canada), Yoho National Park, and Kootenay National Park on the British Columbia side, and Banff National Park, Jasper National Park and Glacier National Park (U.S.) on the Alberta and Montana sides. Mountain slope habitats vary from moist coniferous/mixed forested habitats to dry subalpine/pine forests with alpine meadows higher up. The foothills and river valleys between the mountain ranges provide a mosaic of cropland and deciduous parklands. The rare woodland caribou have the most restricted range living at higher altitudes in the subalpine meadows and alpine tundra areas of some of the mountain ranges. Elk and mule deer both migrate between the alpine meadows and lower coniferous forests and tend to be most common in this region. Elk also inhabit river valley bottomlands, which they share with white-tailed deer. The white-tailed deer have recently expanded their range within the foothills and river valley bottoms of the Canadian Rockies owing to conversion of land to cropland and the clearing of coniferous forests allowing more deciduous vegetation to grow up the mountain slopes. They also live in the aspen parklands north of Calgary and Edmonton, where they share habitat with the moose. The adjacent Great Plains grassland habitats are left to herds of elk, American bison and pronghorn.
The Eurasian continent —including the Indian subcontinent — boasts the most species of deer in the world, with most species being found in Asia. Europe, in comparison, has lower diversity in plant and animal species. However, many national parks and protected reserves in Europe do have populations of red deer, roe deer and fallow deer. These species have long been associated with the continent of Europe, but also inhabit Asia Minor, the Caucasus Mountains and Northwestern Iran. "European" fallow deer historically lived over much of Europe during the Ice Ages, but afterwards became restricted primarily to the Anatolian Peninsula, in present-day Turkey.
Present-day fallow deer populations in Europe are a result of historic man-made introductions of this species, first to the Mediterranean regions of Europe, then eventually to the rest of Europe. They were initially park animals that later escaped and reestablished themselves in the wild. Historically, Europe's deer species shared their deciduous forest habitat with other herbivores, such as the extinct tarpan (forest horse), extinct aurochs (forest ox) and the endangered wisent (European bison). Good places to see deer in Europe include the Scottish Highlands; the Austrian Alps; the wetlands between Austria, Hungary, and the Czech Republic; and some fine National Parks, including Doñana National Park in Spain, the Veluwe in the Netherlands, the Ardennes in Belgium and Białowieża National Park of Poland. Spain, Eastern Europe and the Caucasus Mountains still have virgin forest areas that are not only home to sizable deer populations, but also for other animals that were once abundant such as the wisent, Eurasian lynx, Iberian lynx, wolves and brown bears.
The highest concentration of large deer species in temperate Asia occurs in the mixed deciduous forests, mountain coniferous forests and taiga bordering North Korea, Manchuria (Northeastern China), and the Ussuri Region (Russia). These are among some of the richest deciduous and coniferous forests in the world where one can find Siberian roe deer, sika deer, elk and moose. Asian caribou occupy the northern fringes of this region along the Sino-Russian border.
Deer such as the sika deer, Thorold’s deer, Central Asian red deer and elk have historically been farmed for their antlers by Han Chinese, Turkic poples, Tungusic peoples, Mongolians and Koreans. Like the Sami people of Finland and Scandinavia, the Tungusic peoples, Mongolians, and Turkic peoples of Southern Siberia, Northern Mongolia and the Ussuri Region have also taken to raising semi-domesticated herds of Asian caribou.
The highest concentration of large deer species in the tropics occurs in Southern Asia in India's Indo-Gangetic Plain Region and Nepal's Terai Region. These fertile plains consist of tropical seasonal moist deciduous, dry deciduous forests, and both dry and wet savannas that are home to chital, hog deer, barasingha, Indian sambar and Indian muntjac. Grazing species such as the endangered barasingha and very common chital are gregarious and live in large herds. Indian sambar can be gregarious, but are usually solitary or live in smaller herds. Hog deer are solitary and have lower densities than Indian muntjac. Deer can be seen in several national parks in India, Nepal and Sri Lanka of which Kanha National Park, Dudhwa National Park and Chitwan National Park are most famous. Sri Lanka's Wilpattu National Park and Yala National Park have large herds of Indian sambar and chital. The Indian sambar are more gregarious in Sri Lanka than other parts of their range and tend to form larger herds than elsewhere.
The Chao Praya River Valley of Thailand was once primarily tropical seasonal moist deciduous forest and wet savanna that hosted populations of hog deer, the now-extinct Schomburgk’s deer, Eld’s deer, Indian sambar and Indian muntjac. Both the hog deer and Eld's deer are rare, whereas Indian sambar and Indian muntjac thrive in protected national parks, such as Khao Yai. Many of these South Asian and Southeast Asian deer species also share their habitat with other herbivores, such as Asian elephants, the various Asian rhinoceros species, various antelope species (such as nilgai, four-horned antelope, blackbuck and Indian gazelle in India) and wild oxen (such as wild Asign water buffalo, gaur, bantng and kouprey). One way that different herbivores can survive together in a given area is for each species to have different food preferences, although there may be some overlap.
Australia has six introduced species of deer that have established sustainable wild populations from acclimatization society releases in the 19th century. These are the fallow deer, red deer, sambar, hog deer, rusa, and chital. Red deer introduced into New Zealand in 1851 from English and Scottish stock were domesticated in deer farms by the late 1960s and are common farm animals there now. Seven other species of deer were introduced into New Zealand, but none are as widespread as red deer.
Evolution
Deer are believed to have evolved from antlerless, tusked ancestors that resembled modern duikers and diminutive deer in the early Eocene, and gradually developed into the first antlered cervoids — the superfamily of cervids and related extinct families — in the Miocene. Eventually, with the development of antlers, the tusks as well as the upper incisors disappeared. Thus, evolution of deer took nearly 30 million years. Biologist Valerius Geist suggests evolution to have occurred in stages. There are not many prominent fossils to trace this evolution, but only fragments of skeletons and antlers that might be easily confused with false antlers of non-cervid species.
Eocene epoch
The ruminants, ancestors of the Cervidae, are believed to have evolved from Diacodexis, the earliest known artiodactyl or even-toed ungulate, 50–55 million years ago in the Eocene. Diacodexis, nearly the size of a rabbit, featured the talus bone characteristic of all modern even-toed ungulates. This ancestor and its relatives occurred throughout North America and Eurasia but were on the decline by at least 46 million years ago. Analysis of a nearly complete skeleton of Diacodexis discovered in 1982 gave rise to speculation that this ancestor could be closer to the non-ruminants than the ruminants. Andromeryx is another prominent prehistoric ruminant but appears to be closer to the tragulids.
Oligocene epoch
The formation of the Himalayas and the Alps brought about significant geographic changes. This was the chief reason behind the extensive diversification of deer-like forms and the emergence of cervids from the Oligocene to the early Pliocene. The latter half of the Oligocene 28–34 million years ago saw the appearance of the European Eumeryx and the North American Leptomeryx. The latter resembled modern-day bovids and cervids in dental morphology — for instance, it had brachyodont molars — while the former was more advanced. Other deer-like forms included the North American Blastomeryx and the European Drmotherium; these sabre-toothed animals are believed to have been the direct ancestors of all modern antlered deer, though they themselves lacked antlers. Another contemporaneous form was the four-horned protoceratid Protoceras, that was replaced by Syndoceras in the Miocene; these animals were unique in having a horn on the nose. Late Eocene fossils dated approximately 35 million years ago, which were found in North America, show that Syndyoceras had bony skull outgrowths that resembled non-deciduous antlers.
Miocene epoch
Fossil evidence suggests that the earliest members of the superfamily Cervoidea appeared in Eurasia in the Miocene. Dicrocerus, Euprox and Heteroprox were probably the first antlered cervids. Dicrocerus featured single-forked antlers that were shed regularly. Stephanocemas had more developed and diffuse ("crowned") antlers. Procervulus (Palaeomerycidae), in addition to the tusks of Dremotherium, possessed antlers that were not shed. Contemporary forms such as the merycodontines eventually gave rise to the modern pronghorn.
The Cervinae emerged as the first group of extant cervids around 7–9 million years ago, during the late Miocene in central Asia. The tribe Muntiacini made its appearance as Muntiacus leilaoensis around 7–8 million years ago. The early muntjacs varied in size — as small as hares or as large as fallow deer. They had tusks for fighting and antlers for defense. Capreolinae followed soon after; Alceini appeared 6.4–8.4 million years ago. Around this period, the Tethys Ocean disappeared to give way to vast stretches of grassland; these provided the deer with abundant protein-rich vegetation that led to the development of ornamental antlers and allowed populations to flourish and colonize areas. As antlers had become pronounced, the canines were no more retained or were poorly represented — as in elk, probably because diet was no more browse-dominated and antlers were better display organs. In muntjac and tufted deer, the antlers — as well as the canines — are small. The tragulids, however, possess long canines to this day.
Pliocene epoch
With the onset of the Pliocene, the global climate became cooler. A fall in the sea-level led to massive glaciation; consequently, grasslands abounded in nutritious forage. Thus, a new spurt in deer populations ensued. The oldest member of Cervini, Cervocerus novorossiae, appeared around the transition from Miocene to Pliocene 4.2–6 million years ago in Eurasia; cervine fossils from early Pliocene to as late as the Pleistocene have been excavated in China and the Himalayas. While Cervus and Dama appeared nearly 3 million years ago, Axis emerged during the late Pliocene–Pleistocene. The tribes Capreolini and Rangiferini appeared around 4–7 million years ago.
Around 5 million years ago, the rangiferines Bretzia and Eocoileus were the first cervids to reach North America. This implies the Bering Strait could be crossed during the late Miocene–Pliocene; this appears highly probable as the camelids migrated into Asia from North America around the same time. Deer invaded South America in the late Pliocene 2.5–3 million years ago as part of the Great American Interchange, thanks to the recently formed Isthmus of Panama, and emerged successful due to the small number of competing ruminants in the continent.
Pleistocene epoch
Large deer with impressive antlers evolved during the early Pleistocene, probably as a result of abundant resources to drive evolution. The early Pleistocene cervid Eucladoceros was comparable in size to the modern elk. Megaloceros (Pliocene–Pleistocene) featured the Irish elk (M. giganteus), one of the largest known cervids. The Irish elk reached 6.6 feet at the shoulder and had heavy antlers that spanned 12 feet from tip to tip. These large animals are thought to have faced extinction due to conflict between sexual selection for large antlers and body and natural selection for a smaller form. Meanwhile, the moose and reindeer radiated into North America from Siberia.
In prehistory
Deer were an important source of food for early hominids. In China, Homo erectus fed upon the sika deer, while the red deer was hunted in Germany. In the Upper Palaeolithic, the reindeer was the staple food for Cro-Magnon people, while the cave paintings at Lascaux in southwestern France include some 90 images of stags.
In history
Deer had a central role in the ancient art, culture and mythology of the Hittites, the ancient Egyptians, the Celts, the ancient Greeks, the Asians and several others. For instance, the Stag Hunt mosaic of ancient Pella, under the Kingdom of Macedonia in 4th century BC, possibly depicts Alexander the Great hunting a deer with Hephaistion. In Japanese Shintoism, the sika deer is believed to be a messenger to the gods. In China, deer are associated with great medicinal significance; deer penis is thought by some in China to have aphrodisiac properties. Spotted deer are believed in China to accompany the god of longevity. Deer was the principal sacrificial animal for the Huichal Indians of Mexico. In medieval Europe, deer appeared in hunting scenes and coats-of-arms. Deer are depicted in many materials by various pre-Hispanic civilizations in the Andes.
The common male first name Oscar is taken from the Irish language, where it is derived from two elements: the first, os, means "deer;" the second element, cara, means "friend." The name is borne by a famous hero of Irish mythology — Oscar, grandson of Fionn mac Cumhaill. The name was popularized in the 18th century by Jame Macpherson, creator of “Ossianic poetry.”
In literature
Deer have been an integral part of fables and other literary works since the inception of writing. Stags were used as symbols in the latter Sumerian writings. For instance, the boat of Sumerian god Enki is named the Stag of Azbu. There are several mentions of the animal in the Rigveda as well as the Bible. In the Indian epic Ramayana, Sita is lured by a golden deer which Rama tries to catch. In the absence of both Rama and Lakshman, Ravana kidnaps Sita. Many of the allegorical Aesop’s Fables, such as "The Stag at the Pool," "The One-Eyed Doe" and "The Stag and a Lion" personify deer to give moral lessons. For instance, "The Sick Stag" gives the message that uncaring friends can do more harm than good. The Yaqui deer song accompanies the deer dance which is performed by a pascola [from the Spanish “pascua” for Easter] dancer — also known as a deer dancer. Pascolas would perform at religious and social functions many times of the year, especially during Lent and Easter.
In one of Rudolph Erich Raspe's 1785 stories of Baron Munchausen’s “Narrative of his Marvellous Travels and Campaigns in Russia,” the baron encounters a stag while eating cherries and, without ammunition, fires the cherry-pits at the stag with his musket, but it escapes. The next year, the baron encounters a stag with a cherry tree growing from its head; presumably this is the animal he had shot at the previous year. In Christmas lore such as in the narrative poem "A Visit from St. Nicholas,” reindeer are often depicted pulling the sleigh of Santa Claus. Marjorie Kinnan Rawling’s Pulitzer Prize-winning 1938 novel “The Yearling” was about a boy's relationship with a baby deer. The fiction book “Fire Bringer” is about a young fawn who goes on a quest to save the Herla, the deer kind. In the 1942 Walt Disney Pictures film, “Bambi” is a white-tailed deer, while in Felix Salten's original 1923 book “Bambi, a Life in the Woods,” he is a roe deer. In C.S. Lewis's 1950 fantasy novel “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,” the adult Pevensies — now kings and queens of Narnia — chase the White Stag on a hunt, as the Stag is said to grant its captor a wish. The hunt is key in returning the Pevensies to their home in England. In the 1979 book “The Animals of Farthing Wood,” The Great White Stag is the leader of all the animals.
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