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Exploring the beautiful nature of California


California Nature: Deer


Five species of deer and elk are found in California and include axis deer, tule elk, sambar, fallow deer and mule deer. Fallow deer and axis deer, were purchased from the San Francisco Zoo in the 1940s and released by a local landowner. Axis deer are native to India and Sri Lanka.

Fallow deer, natives of the Mediterranean and Asia Minor, are the most widely introduced deer species throughout the world. Descendants of these released animals, upwards of 1100 animals, can be seen throughout the pastoral lands and the wilderness areas of Point Reyes National Seashore.

California Mule Deer are found throughout California, especially in the High Sierra. More attacks on humans by deer occur than by bears each year. Although it appears to be tame and may even approach you, the California mule deer is a wild animal and may charge if it feels cornered or threatened.
mule deer are found through most of the state of California The Mule Deer is a deer whose habitat is in the western half of North America. It gets its name from its large mule-like ears. Mule deer are brownish-gray in color, have a white rump patch and a small white tail with a black tip. The male deer grow antlers during the summer and fall and shed them each spring. The antlers split off from the main branch forming two branches, each branch has 2 or more tines. Mule deer occupy to some extent almost all types of habitat within their range but, in general, they seem to prefer the more arid, open situations in which sagebrush, juniper, pinyon pine, yellow pine, bitter brush, mountain mahogany, and such plants predominate.

Mule deer of both sexes normally do most of their feeding in early morning before sunrise or in late afternoon and evening after sundown. They spend the middle of the day bedded down in cool, secluded places. In summer, the bucks retire as soon as the sun shines where they are feeding and go to the dense shade of some grove to bed down for the day. In general, mature bucks prefer rocky ridges for bedding grounds because there they seem to feel more secure from the approach of danger. Does and fawns are more likely to bed down in the open. In winter, however, they often seek out sunny places well screened on at least three sides by vegetation. At night, they usually bed down in the open away from trees and bushes.
The Sambar Deer is an uncommon resident of dense valley foothill hardwood and grassland habitats on the Hearst Ranch in San Luis Obispo County This introduced deer is not known from other locations in California. Sambar Deer are one of the larger members of the deer family. Sambar deer can reaching a length of 78-102 inches. It is dark brown in the winter and chestnut during the summer months, with a large muzzle and broad ears. Males are antlered, and antlers can grow as large as 38 inches. The diet of the Sambar deer consists mainly of aquatic plants. These deer have a life expectancy of 16-20 years.

The rut occurs in the fall, with parturition following in the spring. Little else is known about the mating habits of sambar; probably similar to other cervids. Potential predators are mountain lions, which could take adults or young, and bobcats and coyotes, which probably would take mostly young.

Sambar deer feeds primarily on grasses, forbs, and browse. It has been noted found that sambar deer in Texas fed heavily on browse in winter, switching to grasses in summer.
The Tule Elk is  a subspecies of elk found only in California, ranging from the grasslands and marshlands of the Central Valley to the grassy hills on the coast. The subspecies name derives from the tule that it feeds off of, which grows in the marshlands. It is the smallest subspecies of all American elks, with the average weight of adult males only 450 - 550 pounds. The females average 375 - 425 pounds. The calves are similar to deer fawns, with brown coat and white spots.

Tule Elk State Natural Reserve protects a herd of tule elk, once in danger of extinction. In the 1880s, vast herds of tule elk were greatly reduced in number by hunting and loss of habitat. The Tule Elks grand population of half a million dwindled to what is rumored as two surviving members, one male and one female.  But through research it has shown that more than just 2 adults remained. In all likelihood it is estimated that in 1895, 28  individuals remained after only 20 years of poaching, Elk from the reserve have been successfully transplanted to other areas in California where free-roaming herds of tule elk can be found today. The elk are most active from late summer through early autumn. Visitors are encouraged to bring binoculars for better viewing.
Axis Deer come from the tropics of India, and are also called chital deer which means spotted in Hindustani. Axis deer have a rust coat with white spots, and they stay spotted all their life. In fact the spots on the adults are brighter and show more than their fawns'. They have a large, white throat patch which is more prominent in the males. Axis fawns look a lot like whitetail fawns, but one difference is that the axis have a black stripe down their backs, and the whitetail fawns do not. Another feature of axis is that, being a tropical deer, they do not follow a seasonal rut. Bucks can be found in hard horn and in velvet at the same time any time in the year, and that also means that fawning can occur in any month. Axis are medium size deer with bucks standing 29 - 39" tall and weighing 150 - 250 lbs. Does stand a few inches shorter at 26 - 33" but weigh quite a bit less at 90 - 150 lbs.

Fallow Deer  were brought to Marin County in 1948 when the San Francisco Zoo donated them to Doc Ottinger, who created a hunting club on his ranch at the foot of Mount Vision. Fallow deer graze green parts of grasses and forbs, and occasionally browse. On Point Reyes Peninsula, grasses form the majority of the diet during the wet season; forbs predominate in the dry season.
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