Antlered Animal AMAZING LIVING WORLD

THE deer is the only animal that grows antlers, bones that branch out from the deer's skull and have sharp points at their ends. Except for the reindeer or caribou, only the males of all other deer species grow antlers. The deer uses these as weapons for fighting. They shed their antlers every year. The only deer that don't grow antlers are the musk and water deer.

The deer's long legs help it to run fast. Some deer can run at a speed of 64 kilometres per hour. It can outrun most of its predators.

To detect danger, the deer makes uses of its nose and ears more than its eyes. Its ears, which are always erect, can be moved to catch sounds coming from any direction. While resting or feeding, the deer faces the wind to receive warnings of danger.

Deer have various ways of communicating with each other. One way it attracts attention is by stamping with its feet.

A deer usually wanders around the edge of forests, feeding mostly on grass, flowers, buds and young leaves. Only in summer, when the grass dries up, does it settle for the matured leaves, twigs, bark and other hard parts of trees.

The deer is a cud chewing animal. It is able to take in a large quantity of food at a time rapidly and chew it later at leisure. The food gets stored in one of the chambers inside its stomach. When the deer finds a safe place to settle down, it brings the food back to its mouth and chews it again properly.

There are over 60 species of deer in the world. The sambar, the muntjac, the chital and the musk deer are some of the deer found in India. The sambar is the largest and most widely found. Themuntjac,w hen frightened, makes a barking noise, and hence is also called a barking deer.

The chital is the most beautiful and graceful of all deer. It has a sleek, reddish brown coat with white spots, and its antlers, that often grow to a length of 91 cm, arch back gracefully from its head.

The male musk deer is valued greatly for the brownish wax-like substance called musk, produced by a gland on its abdomen. The musk is used in the preparation of certain perfumes and soaps.

Deer have a lifespan ranging from 10 to 20 years in the wild. Habitat loss, hunting and poaching have endangered more than 20 species including the marsh deer, the musk deer and the barasingha or swamp deer in India.

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