Deer
Deer in Human Culture
Deer are well loved animals and so it is no surprise to learn that they are very common in popular culture. When you ask people about deer that they can think of, Bambi from the Disney classic often comes to mind. The story is about a young fawn that loses his mother and then grows up to be a powerful buck. It shows the circle of life and stressed how important it is to find a balance in nature between animals and humans.
It may surprise you to learn that Bambi was actually a book before it was a family movie. Today both the book and the movie continue to be huge selling items that span over many generations.
One of the icons of America out there is the John Deere tractor products. The logo for them is a deer running very swiftly. Most of the time the equipment offered is green or red and the deer on it is gold. This has been a logo that almost everybody recognizes it, if they are part of the farming industry.
What is so ironic about that though is that farmers continue to complain about the problems that deer create for them. They can come into crop areas and feed heavily on corn, soy beans, and other items. They can also lay down in the fields for bedding areas. This can damage crops so that they don’t grow properly early on. Millions of dollars in crop damages are reported annually from farmers due to the invasion of deer into their farm land.
Today you can easily go on any video site such as YouTube and find lost of material with deer in them. Some are about hunting expeditions. Others are about surprise encounters with deer or even cars being smashed up after colliding with one of them. Some of them are very funny though such as one with a deer trying to eat the flowers in a ladies garden and her screening irrationally at it to go away.
Hunting is a common enough sport that involves deer. However, you can only do it during certain seasons and if you get a tag permit to do so. There is a very popular type of 3-D deer target shooting out there that continues to grow in popularity. There are courses where you can practice and these different targets pop up that you have to knock down. There are competitions held to determine who is the most accurate, who can knock down more of them, and even who is the fastest at completing the course.
On a more personal level there are hunting video games. You can find them at most arcades with very large screens. They even allow you to choose the type of deer you want to hunt and the type of weapon you will do it with. For home gaming consoles there are lots of these deer hunting games too. Many of the popular ones come out with updated versions all the time. You can buy the guns and other accessories to plug in for the best experience too instead of just using the tradition game controller.
Top Facts about Deer
- How much do you know about deer? If the answer is not very much then don’t worry. As you explore these fun and informative deer factsyou will soon have plenty of information about them.
- Deer are ruminant mammals belonging to the family Cervidae.
- All male deer have antlers, with the exception of the Chinese Water Deer, which have tusks.
- This family classification include well known animal like the Moose, Red Deer, Reindeer, Roe and Chital among others.
- Male deer are called bucks, females, are does, and the young are fawns. Only the males grow antlers, except the reindeer.
- The term is deer whether you are talking about one of them or more. Many people say “deers” as the plural but that is incorrect.
- Deer are found to live in every region around the world except for Australia and Antarctica. While it is understandable why deer wouldn’t survive in Antarctica it isn’t fully understood why they can’t survive in Australia.
- Only one species of deer lives in Africa – the Red Deer.
- Reindeer are the only species of deer where the females have antlers as well as the males.
- Deer are the only animals in the world that feature antlers. Moose have the largest antlers of all the species. They are covered with velvet.
- Deer where first identified by the Europeans and then taken by them into the area we know today as New Zealand.
- Approximately 1.5 million vehicles are involved in accidents annually from hitting deer. The cost of these accidents is about $1 million per year. They also result in about 150 deaths per year.
- There are more than 60 deer species that have been identified.
- All deer are classified as Artiodactyls because they have hooves and an even number of toes.
- Deer have a homeland range and it can span about 30 miles. They will move around the area finding different places to sleep and food to eat.
- Deer have lots of muscles in their ears. This allows them to turn the ears different directions but they don’t have to move their bodies as they do so.
- In the fall deer will shed their summer coat. A thicker and fuller one will appear to keep them very warm in the winter time.
- The young fawns have spots on them that disappear when they are about four months of age.
- Due to their eyes being at the side of the head, they have a 310 degree view.
- The average speed for a deer is 35 miles per hour for a short distance.
- Deer weights generally range from 40 to 680 kilograms.
- Most people don’t know that deer are amazing when it comes to swimming.
- Dead male deer have been found with their antlers interlocked with each other, stuck in a tree where they were rubbing, and even in barbed wire fences. Sadly, these males will die from starvation because they can’t break free.
- Deer fawns don’t have a smell to them which is why they are able to remain undetected by predators as long as they are out of sight.
- All deer are herbivores which means they only consume plant life.
- All species of deer have a four chamber stomach so they can chew cud. This process involves partially chewing food, regurgitating it, and then chewing it more before it is able to be digested into the body.
- Deer are less active in the winter months than in the summer time. This is a process that allows them to preserve energy. Since there is less food available they will only move when they need to.
- The fawns are born with four teeth and by the time they are 1 ½ years of age they will have all of them that they need to function as an adult. Experts can determine the age of the young by the formation of their teeth.
- The average life span for deer in the wild is 15- 20 years. However, it can vary based upon location and the species.
Introduction to Deer
Deer are ruminant mammals belonging to the family Cervidae. This
family classification include well known animals like the Moose, Red Deer,
Reindeer, Roe and Chital among others.
All male deer have antlers, with the exception of the Chinese
Water Deer, which have tusks. This is a characteristic very specific of deer
that most people know. Sometimes a female deer will have a small stub, but
the only female deer with antlers are Reindeer or Caribou.
The term deer covers a wide spectrum of species. It may
surprise you to learn about all of the different ones out there. They all have
unique characteristics about them. However, they all have many similarities and
that is what most people know about them.
The deer population in the wild can quickly get out of control.
This is why most states have hunting seasons. In order to take part in this,
individuals must have a hunter’s safety card. This shows that they have
successfully completed a two day course about how to hunt and to lower the risk
of injury to themselves or to others.
Hunting can take place with a rifle or with a bow. The
application process requires a person to choose their hunting area, when they
would like to hunt, and the type of weapon they are going to use. Not everyone
is guaranteed to get a hunting tag for deer though. It really depends on the
population.
This type of population control has to be done or the deer will
end up starving to death. In some areas deer are raised in captivity, and then
turned loose on certain grounds for hunters. Some people find this to be
unnecessary but it is a very profitable business.
Telling the males from the females is simple, the males are much
larger. They also grow antlers between their ears. You can tell the age of a
buck by the size of his antlers. They bigger they are and the more points they
have the older he is. The design of these antlers will depend on the species.
As a side note, the female reindeer also grow antlers. This is the only known
species to do so but some others have small nubs that form on the females.
Deer seem to be beloved animals in the eyes of some. Who could
ever forget the Disney classic Bambi? Yet deer can be dangerous too and most
people don’t realize that. They can fight very hard with their legs when they
feel they are in danger. As a result they have seriously hurt other animals and
humans.
Deer can also be a danger on the roads as it can be hard to see
them moving in the dark until it is too late. Of course these animals aren’t to
blame; their natural habitat continues to be taken away from them. Even with
warning signs in place where deer commonly cross the roads it is very dangerous.
