Popular Official Guide to the New York Zoological Park (September 1915): Thirteenth EditionHornaday, William T. (William Temple)
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Popular Official Guide to the New York Zoological Park (September 1915): Thirteenth Edition
Hornaday, William T. (William Temple)
New York Zoological Park
The White-Tailed Deer, (_Odocoileus virginianus_), is the species most
widely known throughout the United States, partly by reason of the fact
that it was the first species with which the early settlers of America
became acquainted, partly because of its wide distribution, and also its
persistence in holding its own. In various localities this animal is
known under various names, such as “White-Tailed Deer,” “Flag-Tailed
Deer,” and “Fan-Tailed Deer.” Although not at all in need of it, quite
recently it has received still another name—American Deer. The small
deer of Florida, and also of New Mexico and the Southwest, have been
described as separate forms; and if size is to be accepted as a factor
in the differentiation of species, the diminutive proportions of the
proposed southern species are quite sufficient to establish their
separate identity.
The White-Tailed deer of Virginia and the northern United States is a
fine animal—large, strong-limbed, heavily-antlered, and hardy. Between
it and the deer of Florida the difference is as great as that between a
setter dog and a mastiff. Thanks to the fact that this species is a born
skulker and lives only in thick brush and timber, it still holds its own
throughout the forest regions of the South generally, Pennsylvania, the
Adirondacks, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, the Dakotas, Montana, and
Colorado. In the West it is often found inhabiting brushy ravines and
river bottoms.
This species breeds readily in confinement, and when protected in any
large tract of brush or timber, increases rapidly. During the months of
September, October, and November, the bucks are dangerous and
untrustworthy. The peculiar formation of the antlers—three strong,
spear-like points thrust straight upward from the beam—makes them
dangerous weapons; and when an ill-tempered buck lowers his chin and
drives straight forward with eight sharp spears of solid bone, and
nearly three hundred pounds of weight to back them, he may well be
considered a dangerous animal. He is to be feared less than the elk only
because he is smaller.
The Woodland Caribou, (_Rangifer caribou_).—The first hoofed animal to
arrive at the Zoological Park was a young female of this species, which
was procured in Champlain County, Canada, and forwarded to the Society
by one of our members, Mr. George S. Huntington. These animals, when
present in the Park, will be kept in a small enclosure, because a large
range containing an abundance of green grass is fatal to them.
The wild range of the Woodland Caribou extends from Newfoundland, Nova
Scotia, and Maine, with many wide gaps, to the head waters of the Yukon
River, in southern Alaska. The following localities are worthy of
special mention: northern Quebec and Ontario; James Bay; the northern
end of Lake Winnipeg (occasionally); Lake of Woods, Minnesota; Oregon
near Mount Hood; northern Idaho; northwestern Montana, and the mountains
of British Columbia.
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