Deer

Deer are hoofed ruminant mammals members of the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the reindeer (caribou), white-tailed deer, the roe deer, and the moose. Male deer of all species (except the water deer) as well as female reindeer, grow and shed new antlers each year. The coat color of these animals generally varies between red and brown, though it can be as dark as chocolate brown in the tufted deer or have a grayish tinge as in elk. Nearly all deer have a facial gland in front of each eye that contains a strongly scented pheromone, used to mark its home range. Bucks of a wide range of species open these glands wide when angry or excited. All deer species are excellent jumpers and swimmers. They are browsers, and feed primarily on the foliage of grasses, sedges, forbs, shrubs, and trees, secondarily on lichens in northern latitudes during winter. Nearly all deer are so-called uniparental species: the fawns are only cared for by the mother, known as a doe. A doe generally has one or two fawns at a time and the fawn and its mother stay together for about one year. A male usually leaves and never sees his mother again, but females sometimes come back with their own fawns and form small herds.