How many kinds of deer are there? | ECOVIEWS

Do deer fight? Do they engage in play? Do they make vocalizations? As is often true in science, the answer to all 3 questions is a qualified yes. In this case, it depends on which of the nearly 50 species of hoofed animals classified as deer you are referring to.

You can find answers to these questions and more in "Deer: The Animal Answer Guide" by George A. Feldhamer and William J. McShea.

The book is one of the highly informative series "Animal Answer Guides: Q&A for the Curious Naturalist" published by Johns Hopkins University Press in which authors provide answers to more than 100 questions about the animals under discussion, in this case, deer.

In the section on behavior, the authors explain that young deer are known to engage in play, among themselves or with their mothers. Yearling males of some species participate in mock battles with older males. Real fights occur between antlered males that charge head-on at each other during mating season.

White-tailed deer, the well-known species of the eastern United States, give recognizable snorts and grunts. Some deer have more impressive vocalizations. Fallow deer of the Middle East, red deer of Europe and bull elk in the western United States make a bugling sound during mating season. Old World roe deer bark when danger threatens.

What are the largest and smallest species of deer? American elk bulls are huge, averaging close to a half ton with a shoulder height near 5 feet. The record size is held by North American moose, which belong to the deer family, Cervidae. The largest bull moose on record weighed more than 1,800 pounds and stood over 7 feet high at the shoulder.

On a much smaller scale, white-tailed bucks average about 4 feet at the shoulder and few reach 300 pounds. The smallest deer in the world, being a little over 12 inches high and weighing in at less than 20 pounds, is a tiny creature called the southern pudu of South America. Male deer of most species are larger than females.

Having antlers is one of the traits that make deer distinctive from horned animals in the antelope family, including cows, goats, sheep and bison. Antlers differ from horns in several notable ways. First, antlers are made of bone that branches as it grows out from the skull each year. Antlers are deciduous, typically being shed in the winter and re-growing in spring and summer.

Horns in contrast are made of fibrous material that does not branch and that keeps growing for the life of the animal. Also, females, as well as males in many members of the antelope family, have horns.

Caribou (reindeer) are the only species of deer in which prominent antlers are characteristically found in both sexes. The Chinese water deer is the only deer species without antlers. Males of these small deer have scary-looking canine teeth that project downward from the upper jaw, like fangs, and can be up to 3 inches long.

Characteristic of the "Animal Answer Guides" series, the book is divided into a dozen chapters with topics such as food and feeding, deer and humans, and deer in art and literature.

The authors also answer many frequently asked questions about deer. For example, can deer see color? how high can deer jump? and should people feed deer? In brief, the answers are deer can see part of the color spectrum but probably not “the blaze-orange color that hunters wear.” A white-tailed deer can jump a fence 8 feet high. Generally, people should not feed wild deer, but state laws vary about what is allowed during hunting season.

The authors also answer some not-so-frequently-asked questions, such as what should I do if I find a fawn? and how will deer be affected by global climate change? "Deer: The Animal Answer Guide" is an excellent place to begin an authoritative search to find the answers to these and many other questions about deer.

Whit Gibbons is professor of zoology and senior biologist at the University of Georgia’s Savannah River Ecology Laboratory. If you have an environmental question or comment, email ecoviews@gmail.com.

This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: How many kinds of deer are there? | ECOVIEWS