Red Deer

Red Deer (Cervus elaphus), a large deer from Europe and Western Asia, and North Africa if the Barbary Deer be, as is probable, a mere variety, In England the Red Deer is wild on Exmoor; it is also found in the north of Scotland and the west of Ireland. The male is called a stag, and the female a hind. A full-grown stag stands about four feet high at the withers; the neck is greyish, the body reddish-brown, and the rump is marked with white. Only the males bear antlers, which show signs of growth in the first year, appearing in the second year as unbranched beams; the first branch is gained in the third year, and when twelve are present the animal is known in Scotland as a "royal stag." The antlers are shed in spring. The wild deer of Exmoor are hunted with horse and hound (with u. close season from May 11th to August 11th, and from October 9th to March 24th), In Scotland they are stalked and shot with a rifle.