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Mule Deer
Also called: Black-tailed deer.
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Length.—6 to 7 feet. Height at shoulder. 3 feet 4 inches. Length of antlers. 25-30 inches.
Description.—Body heavy, ears very large, thickly haired, tail white with black tip, naked below at the base. Pale dull yellowish in summer, bluish-gray in autumn, front of the face between the eyes dusky, rest of face, throat, abdomen and inside of legs white. Antlers forking equally (dichotomous) and each prong again bifurcate.
Range.—North Dakota to Texas and Colorado and west to Washington, Oregon and northern California. Closely allied varieties occur in California south of San Francisco.
Range.—Coast range of California south of San Francisco.
Range.—Desert areas of lower California and Sonora.
Range.—Cerros Island off the Californian coast.
Range.—New Mexico.
Length.—6 feet.
Description.—Smaller than the mule deer, with relatively shorter ears and finer hair; especially distinguished by the shorter metatarsal gland and tuff which occupy a considerable part of the upper half of the cannon bone segment. General colour brownish gray, darkest along the back, with a tinge of reddish brown on the head; chin, upper throat and posterior portion of underparts white, rest as above. Tail black above, basal third beneath white. Antlers similar to those of the mule deer. Summer coat redder than winter.
Range.—British Columbia, through Washington and Oregon, west of the Cascade Mountains. Closely related varieties to the north and south, in Alaska and Northern California.
Range.—Southern Alaska.
Range.—Northern California.
Unless we are familiar with an animal it is often difficult to know the origin of the popular names that have been bestowed upon it. In the present case we should on first thought picture a large heavy animal approaching the moose in build, but such a conception is erroneous. The mule deer, like the jack-ass rabbit, owes its name not to its shape but to its enormous ears, which as we know are the most characteristic feature of the mule.
Though but little exceeding the Virginia deer in height, the present species is a heavier, more coarsely built animal with shorter legs and with very different antlers.
It inhabits usually the rough broken country but often ascends to the higher valleys and plateaus of the mountains. Besides its peculiarities of structure the mule deer has a distinctive gait. Instead of the continuous easy springs of the Virginia deer it proceeds by a jerky series of bounds, all four legs apparently touching the ground together, or to quote from Lewis and Clarke who first discovered the species: "It does not lope but jumps."
The range of the mule deer is quite extensive through the West, and as will be seen below, the Southern representatives from distinct varieties.
The mule deer was one of those many Western novelties which Audubon and his companions met with on their memorable journey up the Missouri River in 1843. He says of his first sight of it: "On winding along the banks, bordering a long and wide prairie, intermingled with willows and other small brushwood, we suddenly came in sight of four mule deer which, after standing a moment on the bank and looking at us, trotted leisurely away, without appearing to be much alarmed. After they had retired a few hundred yards, the two largest, apparently males, elevated themselves on their hind legs and pawed each other in the manner of the horse. They occasionally stopped for a moment, then trotted off again, appearing and disappearing from time to time, when becoming suddenly alarmed they bounded off at a swift pace until out of sight. They did not trot or run as irregularly as our Virginia deer, and they appeared at a distance darker in colour."