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Deer brief information. Red deer: description of the species where it lives

The bright and majestic inhabitant of forests, the red deer, has been known to people since ancient times. This magnificent animal invariably amazes with its stature and beauty. Where does this artiodactyl live and what is its lifestyle?

Description and features of the red deer

The deer, called the red deer, and also called the true deer, is large mammal. This horned giant is a member of the deer family.

The average height at the withers of these creatures ranges from one to one and a half meters.
Length - from one to two meters.
Weight can reach 400 kg, but is usually 200 – 350 kg.

This is interesting. Representatives of the deer family are called noble for their slender posture, magnificent build, long neck and a large head, not to mention impressive height. His whole appearance speaks of grace, royalty and solidity.

The eyes of ungulates have a yellow-brown tint, and deep furrows lie near the organs of vision. The wide forehead is crowned with a noticeable dent. The limbs of some subspecies of noble horned animals are distinguished by their thinness and grace, while in others they are short and massive. However, all members of the family are distinguished by muscular front and hind legs, as well as splayed hooves connected by webs.

It is easy to determine its age by looking at the teeth of a red deer. This takes into account the percentage of grinding of canines and incisors, the inclination and intensity of the curvature.

A characteristic attribute of deer is, of course, considered to be magnificent branched antlers. Only males wear them with pride; female deer are deprived of such decoration. Most deer get rid of their antlers every year, shedding them like unnecessary ballast, after which new ones very quickly grow to replace the old ones.

Types and subspecies of animal

Red deer - biological characteristics, uniting a number of subspecies, including Caucasian deer, European, as well as wapiti, maral and others.

Representatives of subspecies often differ from each other in weight, dimensions, color and a number of other characteristics. Thus, deer can reach over 300 kg in weight and exceed 2.5 m in length. At the same time, the height of their withers will be 130 − 160 cm. The more modest Bukhara deer weighs about a hundredweight, while its body length reaches 70 − 90 cm. The shape of the deer antlers may also differ - the European one wears many shoots on its head, while deer, in turn, they do not have a crown, but each of their horns can separately include 6–7 processes.

At the same time, the subspecies of red deer are distinguished by one typical feature - the absence of the summer spotted color characteristic of other artiodactyls.

Besides, white area The fur in the area under the tail is quite large and extends well above the base of the tail.

These creatures are not too picky about their living conditions and can live both in mountainous areas and on flat surfaces. Deer especially appreciate the zones of tundra and swamps. Many of them prefer areas with high humidity, and therefore live in close proximity to water bodies.

Red deer are active and dynamic animals that prefer to roam rather than constantly stay in one specific place. In summer they live in forest thickets, grazing in clearings and combining food production with resting in the grass. In winter, deer can be found in impenetrable wilds and thickets. This is where you can find food under the thick snow.

The red deer rut occurs between September and November.

Peculiarities of behavior of males and females

Red deer are rather shy creatures, and at the same time quite capricious and even aggressive. Young individuals very often turn games and fun typical of their age into a real battle, somewhat reminiscent of a boxing sparring. Thus, opponents rise on their hind limbs and strive to strike the opponent with their front limbs.

Female red deer are no less courageous. Protecting their baby, they can attack even the most ferocious predator without any fear. The mother deer's legs broke more than one back of the wolves, who after such a meeting were simply left crippled. Males do not stand on ceremony with attackers at all and simply crush predators with their feet, helping themselves with their weighty horns. It is for this reason that even the hungriest forest thugs lose all desire to raid flocks of red deer.

By the way. At the head of a combined herd consisting of young deer is often a female noble artiodactyl.

Artiodactyl nutrition

The menu of red deer includes plant food - these creatures feast on shoots of bushes, trees, as well as buds or leaves. In summer, mushrooms, berries, and mosses are added to their menu. These horned creatures are also capable of snacking on algae washed up on the coast. Deer can also eat branches of deciduous trees.

With the onset of spring, the diet of red deer also includes cereals. If, for a number of reasons, hungry times come for the horned animals, even pine needles can serve as food for them.

Reproduction and lifespan

Typically, most mammals mate in the spring. Red deer are an exception. Their mating season occurs in the fall and is marked by fierce battles taking place between males, which are usually accompanied by a deafening bass roar of rivals.

After mating, the female carries the baby for 9 months. Usually offspring appear in May - June. The calf is already fully formed, but for the first few days the mother hides it in a shelter, where it remains in a state of complete immobility. The baby makes a few movements solely for the purpose of suckling its mother.

The week-old babies are trying to stand more firmly on their legs, although they are not yet able to follow the female. Two-week-old young fawns are already frolicking and jumping with all their might, and a little later they can completely separate from the herd.

Deer are able to live in wildlife about 20 years. Within the walls of zoos, their life expectancy increases slightly, reaching 30 years or more.

Natural enemies

Wolves are considered the most sworn enemy of red deer. The latter do not risk attacking a flock of deer, but attack lonely animals, often young ones. Small fawns or weak individuals are also tasty prey for toothy predators. They are often attacked by tigers, bears or lynxes.

Relationships with a person

But the most terrible and dangerous enemy of all deer (and noble ones are no exception), is, of course, considered to be man. Sensing the appearance of people, the horned giants experience real panic and take to their heels at the slightest scent of a biped in the air. Even loving and selfless females do not risk rushing to protect their fawn, which is in the hands of a person, and simply silently observe the situation.

This is interesting. Despite their unaccountable fear of people, red deer are often tamed by them. The ancient Slavs used deer to transport things and people.

Often, ancient people also raised deer in their homes, warming them with warmth and affection. Some modern peoples in Russia still devote their lives to reindeer herding. At the same time, horned animals are raised not only for food, but also for reasons of increasing their population. This approach makes it possible to maintain the number of red deer in different parts peace.

Deer are a group of artiodactyl animals belonging to the deer family of the same name. There are about 25 species of deer in total. Their closest relatives are roe deer, moose and muntjac, and very distant relatives... giraffes.

Red deer (Cervus elaphus).

Deer are large animals; the size of different species can vary from 55 cm at the withers and a weight of 10-15 kg for a water deer to 155 cm in height and a weight of over 300 kg for a red deer. All types of deer have an elegant body, thin, slender legs, a long neck and a relatively small head, which is crowned with horns. Deer antlers have a specific branched shape, the number of lateral processes is at least three and can increase depending on the age and type of deer. The shape of the horns also depends on the type of animal. Horns formed bone tissue(unlike the horns of bovid animals, in which they consist of horny substance) and are shed annually. Only males wear horns with the exception of reindeer, in which both sexes are horned.

Female deer are antlerless.

The tail of deer is relatively short; in some species it can be fluffy and spread out like a flower. All types of deer have a protective color, often brown (reindeer are gray), often with white or yellowish spots on the body (for example, sika deer, axis deer and fallow deer). Many species of deer are characterized by a so-called “mirror” patch of white fur on the animal’s rump. It performs a signaling function because it is clearly visible while running: this way the fawn does not lose sight of its mother in dense thickets, and other deer are warned in time about the danger, seeing the flashing croup of a fellow deer.

Usually deer move in leaps.

The distribution range of deer is very wide - they are found throughout the northern hemisphere: in Europe, Asia and North America. Almost all types of deer are forest dwellers, except for the reindeer that lives in the tundra. Different species inhabit different types of forests: mountainous, lowland, dry woodlands or swampy swamps. These are mostly sedentary animals, sticking to a certain area of the forest, and only species living in the north can make winter migrations in search of feeding places. Regular migrations are typical for reindeer: in summer, these animals go north to the shores of the Northern Arctic Ocean to escape from the annoying vileness; by winter they return south to the border of the taiga, where there are no such strong winds and frosts. In summer, deer live in herds of 3-5 individuals, only males and females stay separately during the birth of offspring.

By winter, deer herds become larger and can include up to 30-50 individuals.

The character of these animals is rather secretive and timid, although where they are fed, they quickly get used to the proximity of humans.

Deer eat a variety of foods plant foods- branches of trees and shrubs, herbs, various fruits (acorns, chestnuts, nuts, fruits), sometimes they eat lichens, berries and mushrooms. Reindeer eat mainly tundra lichens (moss moss), which is why their diet is very low in protein. To meet the need for protein food, they are forced to gnaw on shed antlers, bones, and even eat bird eggs. All deer love to lick salt; to do this, they visit salt licks - special places in which the soil is rich in mineral salts.

The deer eats the pine needles.

Deer breed once a year. For northern species, the rut occurs in August-October; deer living in the south reproduce all year round. Usually silent, deer transform during the rut.

A male deer roars loudly, his cry carries through the forest for a kilometer.

For their vocal exercises, males choose permanent place, where they trample the ground with their hooves and break branches. In general, during the breeding season, deer are very warlike - they break bushes with their antlers, peel off the bark of trees, and when they meet an opponent, they engage in battle. Fights among deer are by no means arbitrary.

Mating fight of deer.

The rivals do not disperse until they find out who is stronger, and the stronger does not give mercy to the weaker (unless he runs away); often deer cause severe injuries to each other - they break antlers, inflict deep wounds, and deaths are known.

In addition to butting, deer can fight with an opponent with their front legs, rearing up.

The winning male collects a harem of 3-10 females. After the end of the rut, males shed their antlers, and new ones grow back for the next season. Pregnancy of deer lasts on average 6-7 months. Usually a female gives birth to 1, less often 2-3 fawns. Although fawns can stand on their legs from the first hours of their lives, they prefer to lie down in a secluded place for the first week.

All species of deer have variegated cubs (except reindeer), which perfectly camouflage them in the forest.

The female feeds the cubs with milk for 3-5 months, but the young remain with their mother throughout the fall and winter until the following spring.

The female brought the fawn into the herd.

Deer become sexually mature in the third year of life, but due to high competition with older animals, they begin to mate only at the age of 4-5 years. Deer live up to 20 years, but in nature they die at 10-12 years of age.

In nature, deer have many enemies: in different parts of their range they can be hunted by wolves, lynxes, bears, pumas, leopards, and tigers. Snowy winters greatly affect the number of deer. The fact is that it is difficult for deer to get food from under deep snow, and high snow cover makes movement in the forest very difficult. As a result, deer, weakened from lack of food, become easy prey for predators. Some exception is the reindeer, which is well adapted to move through the snow and is excellent at digging out reindeer moss in the snow.

Deer have always been a favorite prey for humans; hunting them was considered the preserve of the aristocracy. Despite this, the populations of many deer species are well preserved. This is facilitated by both the high fertility of these animals and special measures for their resettlement. In areas where deer are protected, they are not afraid of humans and frequent roadsides, campsites and the outskirts of small towns. Some deer species have become rare due to the destruction of natural habitats. For example, David's deer has completely disappeared in nature and the population of this species is maintained by breeding in zoos.

A pair of fallow deer (Cervus dama) in the autumn forest.

how a female deer protects her fawn.

When people talk about deer, the image of a gentle animal comes to mind. However, they are not as dangerous as they might seem at first glance. A couple of centuries ago, the deer population began to decline sharply due to constant hunting. Their meat, which is more nutritious than ordinary red meat, was especially valued; their horns were also considered valuable. Deer hunting is currently prohibited. Below we will tell you some funny and interesting facts about these animals.

Kingdom: Animals
Type: Chordata
Class: Mammals
Squad: Artiodactyls
Family: Deer
Habitat: temperate forests, woodlands and mountainous areas
Nutrition: herbivores (grasses, plants, branches, moss)
Average life expectancy: 10 - 13 years in the wild; up to 20 years in captivity
Gestation period: from 240 to 262 days

Among themselves, deer of different subspecies differ in the length of their horns and in size.
Representatives of the same species of deer can vary in size, this depends primarily on the amount of food and living conditions.
Some species of deer grow a little more hair on their necks in the fall, which gives them a noble appearance.
Males have stronger neck muscles than females. And only males have antlers, which they shed in the spring.
Deer antlers consist of several types of tissues, protective on the surface, and thinner ones inside, equipped with blood vessels that feed the antlers with essential microelements.
The mating season of deer lasts from April to November. In this period a large number of testosterone produced in the body of a male deer greatly changes his behavior.
On the eve of the mating season, many deer compete with each other for the right to possess one or another female of the herd. This kind of competition is often brutal.
A dominant male may have a harem of several females. Sometimes the number of females reaches twenty. Walking around and guarding its harem, the dominant deer may not eat for a long time.
During the mating season, deer make a loud roar that attracts females.
In the autumn, deer actively grow hair, which helps them maintain the required temperature in winter.
The average weight of a newborn fawn is fifteen kilograms. The gestation period of a female deer lasts from two hundred and forty days to two hundred and sixty.
Baby deer are born with spots on their bodies that disappear over time. Adult deer usually become separated from the herd, while small deer are still for a long time live with the herd and their mother.
Venison and beautiful antlers are two reasons why deer hunting is so popular.
The deer was considered a symbol of festivities in honor of the goddess of the hunt in Ancient Rome.
Humans are considered the only threat to deer.
To conserve energy during periods when food is scarce, the metabolism of these animals slows down, and the deer's heart begins to beat more slowly. It also helps maintain the deer's proper body temperature.
Currently, deer meat is sold in stores, and dishes prepared from it can be found in many restaurants. Venison is considered more nutritious than regular red meat. Deer antlers are often used in the preparation of medicines.
Deer antlers are sold at the market as home decorations. In the last century, deer antlers were highly valued as a hunting trophy.
Deer are mostly found in European forests and are not considered critically endangered.

In North America, reindeer are those that people (and Santa Claus) use as livestock. "Caribou" is the name given to wild arctic and subarctic deer. However, both of them are actually deer of the same species - Reindeer.

Those who live outside the range natural habitat reindeer, can remember them only during the Nativity of Christ. However, in other cultures, reindeer are a way of life. Here are some little-known, weird, and even disgusting facts about reindeer.

10. Differences between wild and domestic deer

Eat different opinions regarding when deer were domesticated. In Eurasia, deer are believed to have been domesticated about 7,000 years ago. According to other estimates, this happened about 2000–3000 years ago.

Despite such a long period during which they serve people, for two reasons deer are considered only half domesticated. Firstly, until recently they were not subject to significant artificial selection. Second, human-tamed deer associate with wild deer because human-managed herds are small and live near wild herds.

There are some differences between the bodies of semi-domesticated and wild deer. Semi-domestic animals are somewhat smaller and have shorter snouts. They are also more colorful in color. In the wild, different populations of deer have different colors, but coloration is more varied among members of the domestic herd. You can sometimes even see sika deer in domestic herds.

Until recently, reindeer were heavily milked in the part of Russia located west of Lake Baikal. Native deer are said to have udders 25 percent larger than their wild relatives.

Domestic and wild deer also differ in behavior. Compared to wild populations, domestic reindeer mate and give birth a month earlier, are less bold during migration, and have less endurance. It is obvious that domesticated reindeer are tame than their wild counterparts, more tolerant of people and easy to train.

9. Cold and warmth in the Arctic

Reindeer have rather long legs, which help them during migration and when they are fleeing from predators. However, it is long legs that can cause heat loss. This risk is counteracted by a special system of blood vessels. The warm blood flowing into the legs passes close to the cold blood rising from the legs. A kind of heat exchange occurs between them, and the warm blood cools down. As a result, very little heat is lost from the reindeer's legs.

Reindeer have a similar system inside their nose. It is made of bone and cartilage called "conch", which looks like a rolled scroll. The “shell” is covered with a mucous membrane with big amount blood vessels.

The cold air that passes through a deer's nose passes through the warm mucous membrane and warms up to body temperature. This causes the air to become saturated with water vapor on its way to the lungs. The water then flows into special folds that direct it to the back of the animal's nose and down its throat.

When a deer exhales, warm wet air cools when it passes over the cold mucous layer. Thus, the air becomes colder and water vapor condenses. As a result, unlike most mammals, the air coming out of the reindeer's nose is quite cold and dry.

8. Flies in the nose of a reindeer

Photo: J. Pohjoismak

Having reached full size, the larvae crawl back into the nasal passages, where they are coughed up and sneezed out by the deer. The larvae then burrow into the ground and spend the winter resting and developing into adult flies.

By the time the flies appear, the herd is usually far ahead. This is not a problem for flies. Their antennae respond to the smell of deer urine and pheromones secreted by glands between the deer's toes. By following this scent, flies can track deer over a distance of 48 kilometers.

7. Deer antlers

Photo: aliciapatterson.org

For Santa's reindeer to have antlers on its head in December, it must be either female, neutered, or immature, since a mature, uncastrated male reindeer sheds its antlers in the fall. Other deer species retain their antlers during the winter.

Reindeer are the only species of deer whose females have antlers. This has puzzled people for a long time. It seems impractical to grow and then shed antlers every year, especially in less deer-friendly areas.

It has been suggested that female deer grow antlers to distract predators. However, because deer shed their antlers every year, they cannot use them as defense against predators during the four to five months it takes for new antlers to grow.

It is more likely that female deer have antlers to fight not against predators, but against members of their own species. In winter there is not enough food. Deer must dig holes in the snow to discover lichen, their main winter food. Deer protect these holes from other members of their species who might steal the food.

Mature females, but not males, have antlers in winter. Therefore, females are better able to defend their lichen-filled pits from large (but hornless) mature males.

There is some benefit to the fact that males lose their antlers first. Since females often find themselves pregnant in the winter, they need extra food. As females get more food, the growing offspring have a greater chance of surviving and being born in the spring.

6. Contraceptive injections for male reindeer

The behavior of male deer changes greatly during the rut (mating season). During this time, they are aggressive, destructive and dangerous to both breeders and other deer.

The mating season negatively affects the health of the deer. He loses up to 35% of his body weight, despite his dominant position or proximity to the female. In addition, keeping enough male reindeer in a herd behind a fence requires significant investment and great skill to bring the animals to the "post-mating" phase.

Reindeer producers use the contraceptive drug Depo-Provera to counteract behavioral changes during the rut. Ideally, male reindeer are injected the first day they shed their antlers, which is the first sign of the rut. The deer on the preparation still mate, but are less aggressive.

In addition, males who received annual injections of the drug from an early age live longer. As a rule, males live 7-8 years, and females 14-18 years. This is believed to be due to extreme levels of hormones in the males' bodies during mating. Eventually the male will enter mating season and die of a heart attack. Males treated with Depo-Provera have been known to live up to 12 years.

5. Sounds made by reindeer

Photo: Karen Laubenstein

In several species of deer, male deer make specific sounds during mating season. Reindeer are unique from other deer in that they have an air sac near their trachea for this purpose. This air sac inflates when male deer make guttural, noisy sounds to attract females and ward off rivals.

Newborn reindeer do not have such a sac. It develops later. At the beginning of life, the growth rate of the air sac in females and males is comparable. However, at 2-3 years old, the air sac in females stops growing. In males, it continues to grow until the deer is six years old, resulting in a large difference between the male and female air sacs.

In males, the air sac is asymmetrical and is located either to the left or to the right of the lower part of the neck. At the beginning of the rut, the diameter of the male's neck increases significantly due to the increase in the mass of the neck muscles. During the rut, males also grow a beard-like mane on their necks, approximately where the air sac is located. While the animal is calling for a female, this mane develops, sending a visual signal.

4. Lichen Eating

Photo: Jason Hollinger

Deer are unusual among mammals in that they eat a lot of lichen. They make up 60-70 percent of their diet in winter period. Depending on the type of lichen, deer can digest 40-90% organic matter contained in them. This is much better than sheep and cows, which can digest a much smaller percentage.

Just like sheep and cows, deer are ruminants. Their stomach consists of several sections. The bacteria live inside the rumen or first stomach. These bacteria, along with enzymes that allow them to digest lichens, allow reindeer to survive on this unusual diet.

Although lichen is high in carbohydrates, it is very low in proteins and minerals. Without the addition of nitrogenous substances, captive deer lose weight by eating lichens.

However, deer have one trick that allows them to solve the problem low content protein in the diet. This is urea - the main component of urine, which has a high nitrogen content. Deer kidneys can accumulate urea, after which it enters the first stomach.

Bacteria in the rumen use urea and a fermentable carbohydrate source (namely lichens) to produce protein through bacterial protein synthesis. The kidneys are pretty good at this: 71 percent of the urea produced in winter ends up in the gastrointestinal tract.

3. Bird droppings diet

Svalbard is the only permanently inhabited island in Svalbard, an island chain in Northern Norway. With my eight winter months, it is one of the most inhospitable in the world. During winter, in order to satisfy their energy needs, local reindeer are forced to feed daily on rare and low-nutrient plants such as mosses. Deer have adapted to this harsh environment with low quality food in a very strange way: they eat goose droppings.

In the summer on Spitsbergen, small geese - barnacle geese - live on the shores around the lake. They eat almost all grass, as well as some types of moss. However, they do not digest fiber very well. In contrast, reindeer can digest fiber with the help of microbes in one of their stomachs.

Deer are very picky. According to one study, they preferred goose droppings that contained grass particles more than those that contained moss particles. During regular sleep, geese leave 6-8 drops of droppings each. On several occasions, researchers have seen deer chasing away geese to eat piles of their droppings.

Researchers roughly estimate that 6-8 deer can live on goose droppings during the two months the geese live nearby. Therefore, goose droppings can be a significant source of supplemental food for several reindeer.

2. Reindeer are fans of their own urine.

Deer's love of urine is not limited to human urine. Like other deer, reindeer of both sexes rub their hind legs together to empty their bladders. As a result, urine is sprayed into the air, while substances contained in the urine are rubbed into the knee tendon, and are subsequently used as a signal.

During the rut, the smell of urine on the hind legs of bucks serves as a signal to other deer of the same sex. It is believed that this happened because the male is the center of his territory. Associated with dominance and aggression, this behavior usually completes a series of aggressive actions.

Reindeer don't just urinate on themselves. The male digs a hole in the soil, urinates there, and then rubs his nose for at least 10 minutes. The female may also rub her nose against these urine spots.

1. Deer love human urine

Photo: uchicago.edu

The diet of deer is low in salt. On the coast, deer get salt when they drink sea water or lick salt deposits on the beach. But far from the coast it is much more difficult to find salt. Like other deer, reindeer are easily attracted to salt. Unlike others, reindeer are especially attracted to salty human urine.

The Inupiat people of Alaska take advantage of this by using human urine as bait for traps. The smell attracts passing reindeer, who approach the hole and die by falling onto the thorns below.

Tozhu Tuvan (or Tozhu) the people of Tuva in Russia went even further. Despite the fact that they are considered domestic animals, their deer find their own food and protect themselves, just like wild deer do.

What makes deer obedient? Urine.

Urine and common salt are used as bait for deer, forcing them to return to where the Tozhu people live. Although deer are afraid of the smell of people, they are trained to associate people with salt, which they love, and therefore seek them out.

Usually Tozhu men urinate near the house, often on a hollow stump or in a kind of wooden urinal. In winter, the urine immediately freezes and is stored in these urinals so that deer can lick it when they come to people. Deer love human urine so much that some of them will immediately gather around or even run up to a human Tozhu who is about to pee.

Maral is a separate subspecies of the red deer species.

Red deer are shy and cautious animals. It is very difficult to see a deer in the forest. The maral, sensing a person, immediately disappears. Most likely for long years These animals have developed an increased instinct of self-preservation.

Males boldly enter into confrontation with predators. The main means of protection of deer are their strong hooves. , and large wild cats They are afraid of these deer and try not to conflict with them.

The habitat consists of vast territories located southwest and south of the Caspian Sea. Due to the habitat of deer, they are often called Caspian deer.

Today, deer are bred in Asian and European regions because their horns are used for medicinal purposes.

What does a deer look like?

This is a large animal, weighing on average 300 - 350 kilograms. Males grow up to 2.5 meters in length, and the height at the withers is 1.6 meters.

Deer are majestic animals.

Females are smaller than males, their body length does not exceed 2.1 meters, and the height at the withers reaches 1.3 meters.

The tail is 12-19 centimeters long. In winter, the fur of deer is brownish-gray, but in spring the animals shed and the color becomes reddish with a faint red tint. Under the tail there is a large White spot. The cubs have a spotted color.
The horns of the animal are of particular value to people. The antlers of male deer begin to grow in the spring, and at the end of winter they fall off. New horns grow very quickly, they add 2.5 centimeters per day. At first the horns are soft, they are protected by the skin, which in its own way appearance has a similarity to velvet. But over time, the horns become stronger, ossify and grow up to 1.2 meters in length. Each horn has about 5-6 processes, up to a quarter of a meter long. The deer's horns weigh 10-14 kilograms.

Lifestyle and nutrition of the deer

The favorite habitat of deer is wooded areas, lush meadows and river banks.

Deer, like other types of deer, migrate. They spend the winter in wooded areas and lowlands, and in the summer they go to high altitude areas.

The diet consists of herbaceous vegetation and a variety of cereal crops. Deer also eat pine needles, shrubs and gnaw bark from trees. Favorite foods are nuts, berries and acorns. Deer love salt very much; they chew or lick it.

Listen to the voice of the deer

Deer do not tolerate heat; they hide from the scorching sun in the shade of bushes and trees. During the hottest times, deer can spend time in the water.

Deer lead a herd lifestyle. Herds consist of several females and the younger generation. Sexually mature males gather in separate groups, which break up during the rut. At this time, males compete with each other, seeking the attention of females. Fights constantly take place between males. Fights are sometimes filled with injuries.

The strongest males are rewarded with harems consisting of 3-5 females. The leaders of harems, as a rule, are adult males aged 5-8 years. But young animals and old individuals, over 11 years old, remain not their lot.

Reproduction

The rut takes place in the fall. At this time, the males roar loudly; with their cries they disturb the forest for a whole month. This roar is similar to the sound of a trumpet, so all females hear it perfectly.

The gestation period in females lasts 240-260 days. The female gives birth in the spring, and 1 fawn is born, which weighs about 15 kilograms. In rare cases, females give birth to twins. The mother feeds the fawns for 2 months. The baby's body is covered with spots that disappear by the end of summer. The offspring does not leave the mother for a year.

Puberty in males occurs at 4-5 years, females are capable of conceiving offspring at 2 years.