The Deer
Interesting Creatures…
Kaieteur News – Deer or true deer are ruminants that form the Cervidae family. 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 deer (caribou), the deer, the mule deer, and the moose. Female and male deer of all species except the Chinese otter grow and throw new horns every year. In this respect, they differ from a permanent horned antelope, which is part of a different family (Bovidae) in the same order as even ungulates (Artiodactyla).
Asian musk deer (Moschidae) and cevrotains (Tragulidae) from African and Asian tropical forests are separate families in the ruminant clade (Ruminantia). They are not particularly closely associated with the deer among the Ruminantia.
Deer appear in art from Paleolithic cave paintings onwards, and have played a role in mythology, religion and literature throughout history, as well as in heraldry, such as red deer appearing in the Åland coat of arms. Their economic importance includes the use of their meat as venison, their skins as strong, soft skin, and their horns 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.
Deer live in a variety of biomes, ranging from the tundra to the tropical rainforest. Although often associated with forests, many deer are ecotone species that live in transitional areas between forests and thickets (for cover) and prairie and savannah (open space). Most large deer species live in temperate temperate deciduous forest, mountainous mixed conifer forest, tropical / dry tropical forest, and savannah habitats worldwide. Clear forest open areas can to some extent benefit deer populations by exposing the substrate and allowing grasses, weeds and herbs to grow those deer that like to eat. In addition, access to neighboring lands could also benefit deer. However, sufficient forest cover or brush must still be provided for populations to grow and thrive.
Deer are widely distributed, with native representatives in every continent except Antarctica and Australia, although Africa has only one native deer, the stag Barbary, a subspecies of red deer confined to the Atlas mountains in the northwest of the continent. An additional species of deer, Megaceroides algericus, was present in North Africa until 6,000 years ago. Fallow deer have been introduced to South Africa. Generally, small species of badger and pudús deer in Central and South America, and Asian muntjacs occupy dense forests and are less frequent in open areas, possibly with the exception of the Indian muntjac. There are also several species of deer that are highly specialized and live almost exclusively in mountains, grasslands, marshes, and “wet” savannahs, or riverfront corridors surrounded by deserts. Some deer have recurring distribution in North America and Eurasia. Examples include the caribou that live in Arctic tundra and taiga (boreal forests) and moose that live in taiga and surrounding areas. Huemul (taruca and huemul Chile) deer from the South American Andes fill the ecological niches of the ibex and wild goat, with the fair behaving more like a goat’s children.
Deer are grazers, and feed mainly on leaf of grasses, sedges, bulbs, shrubs and trees, eating extra lichens in northern latitudes during the winter. They have small, unspecified stomachs according to ruminant standards, and high nutritional requirements. Instead of eating and consuming large quantities of low-grade fibrous food as, for example, sheep and cattle do, deer choose easily digestible shoots, young leaves, fresh grasses, soft twigs, fruits, fungi and lichens . The low-fiber food, after fermentation and minimal crushing, passes quickly through the feed canal. Deer need large amounts of minerals such as calcium and phosphate to support the growth of horns, and this further requires a nutrient-rich diet. However, there are some reports that deer are engaged in carnivorous activity, such as eating dead alewives along lake shores or dredging the nests of northern bobwhites.