The Hidden Life of Deer Read online

  tracking, 131–32

  Dowse, Hunt, 112

  droppings. See scats

  E

  eagles, 127

  early European immigrants, 165

  easements, land, 213–14

  elephants, 108, 113, 133–35

  injured, 133–35

  elk, 166

  estrus, 25, 89, 97–98, 99

  delayed, 49

  Etosha National Park, Namibia, 133

  Euphrates River, 197

  evergreens, 9, 46–47, 56

  evolution, 99–100, 171

  extinction, 166

  eye rings, 24

  F

  fall, 64, 86, 219

  families, deer, 29–56

  Alpha Group, 29–42, 101

  Beta Group, 42–46, 47, 48, 102, 103, 106, 109, 148, 217–18

  Delta Group, 46–48, 97, 101–103, 106, 109–110, 116, 124, 143–45, 217, 220, 222

  Tau Group, 48–53, 63, 65, 74, 101, 155, 221

  farming, 7, 15, 46

  fat reserves, 64, 67, 68, 83, 98

  fawns, 10, 11, 24, 28, 49–50, 61–63, 74, 119–26, 143–45, 147, 215, 217

  adopted, 44, 120

  birth of, 103–117, 119

  fat reserves, 64, 67

  female, 43, 47, 98, 124–25

  fetal, 109

  hidden, 10, 11, 12, 119–22, 171

  male, 43, 44, 45, 88, 98

  nursing, 11, 104, 105–106, 116, 117, 119, 126

  odor, 11, 12, 120

  physiology, 121

  predators of, 119–27

  travel for food, 64–65, 67

  twin, 29, 45, 107, 112, 119

  fear, 138

  feeding deer, 3, 16, 18–23, 32, 34, 39–41, 50–56, 57–84, 100, 218, 223

  hazards of, 57–84

  Felis sylvestris lybica, 197

  female deer, 8–9, 10–11, 13, 24, 29–30

  Alpha Group, 29–42, 101

  Beta Group, 42–46, 47, 48, 102, 103, 106, 109, 148, 217–18

  copulation, 96–99

  Delta Group, 46–48, 97, 101–103, 106, 109–110, 116, 124, 143–45, 217, 220, 222

  estrus, 25, 89, 97–99

  hiding fawns, 119–22, 171

  identifying, 25–26

  labor and childbirth, 103–117

  mating season, 88–101

  female deer (continued)

  mother-daughter relationship, 112–14

  nursing, 11, 104, 105–106, 116, 117, 119, 126

  pregnant, 30, 31, 88, 96, 103, 109

  Tau Group, 48–53, 63, 65, 74, 101, 155, 221

  young, 43, 47, 90, 96, 98, 105–106, 112, 124–25

  fertility, 89

  fetal fawns, 109

  fighting, 89–91

  fish, 3, 166

  fishers, 127, 203

  fish hatcheries, 166

  fleas, 207

  flies, 103, 206–207, 212

  Florida, 167

  foraging, 30–32, 51, 61

  foxes, 39, 40, 127

  frogs, 3, 101, 176

  fungus, 178–79, 227n.2

  G

  game laws, 157, 165–68

  game management, 166–68

  Geist, Valerius, 9

  gender, 24–26, 98, 168–69

  hunting and, 168–70

  identifying, 24–26, 43, 44

  See also female deer; male deer

  genetics, 99

  mouse, 198–99

  gestation period, 88–89, 109

  Gibson, Henry A., American Forest Trees, 189–90

  global warming, 76

  grain, 197–98

  grapes, 13–14

  grass, domestication of, 197–98

  grasshoppers, 176

  “gray ghosts,” 170

  grouses, 176

  guns, 152, 153, 158, 159, 160, 165

  H

  hair, 23–24, 25–26, 87

  hairlessness, 226n.1

  Havahart trap, 211

  hawks, 168

  hay, 68–69

  heart rate, 121

  hemlocks, 10

  hiding, 10, 11, 12, 119–22, 170–73

  high-status deer, 30–32, 38, 43

  hormones, 87, 98, 101

  horses, 119

  Hotz, Brian, 188

  hummingbird feeders, 136

  hunting, 17, 61, 90, 94, 95, 99–100, 132, 150–74, 218, 219, 221, 226n.1

  big-game, 154

  colonial era, 165–66

  fatalities, 100–101, 150

  game laws, 157, 165–68

  gender and, 168–70

  hiding and, 170–73

  illegal, 97

  learning to hunt, 152–64

  license, 151, 152, 157

  odor and, 155, 162

  Old Way, 160–61, 162, 163–64

  Paleo-Indian, 164–65

  pros and cons, 150–51

  tag, 157

  hurricanes, 188, 192

  hypothermia, 87, 221

  I

  illness, 72, 74–75

  impregnation, 96–99

  India, 57, 61, 224

  Indians, 152, 153, 164–65, 170–71

  infrasound, 113–14

  insects, 103, 178–79, 180–88, 207

  intelligence, 7–11

  intestinal bacteria, 68, 69

  invertebrates, 3

  J

  Jacobsen, Nadine, 121

  Ju/wa Bushmen, 226n.1

  K

  Kalahari people, 35–36, 108, 131, 155, 161, 162, 171, 176, 226n.1

  Kieley, John and Connie, 214

  Killam, Ben, 136

  L

  labor and childbirth, 103–117

  langur monkeys, 57, 58, 224

  Lapp people, 58

  legs, broken, 148

  leopard frogs, 176

  leopards, 58

  license, hunting, 151, 152, 157

  lowland, 215

  low-status deer, 30–32, 48–53, 62

  Lyme disease, 84

  M

  macaque monkeys, 177

  macaws, 205–206, 208, 209

  Maine, 153

  male deer, 17, 24, 28

  antler growth, 87–88, 169

  copulation, 96–99

  hunting, 156–59, 168–70, 173

  identifying, 23–24, 25

  mating season, 88–101, 169

  older, 169–70

  peeing on their feet, 24, 93

  scrapes, 92–96, 98

  sparring, 89–91, 169

  young, 43, 44, 45, 88, 90, 95–96, 98, 99, 168

  management, game, 166–68

  Manchester, New Hampshire, 100

  maple trees, 191

  marrow, 53

  Massachusetts, 166

  mating season, 17, 88–101, 167, 169, 215, 220

  birth, 103–117, 119

  copulation, 96–99

  scrapes, 92–96

  sparring, 89–91

  Mauritius, 190

  McBride, Anne, 188

  McLaughlin, Castle, 112–13

  memory, 105

  metabolism, 72–73, 101

  mice, 197–204, 212

  gender, 201–202

  genetics, 198–99

  singing, 201

  Michigan, 173

  microclimates, 9–10, 46, 7
3

  milkweeds, 182–84, 186, 187

  millet, 197

  Monadnock Conservancy, 188, 213–14

  monarch butterflies, 10, 185, 187–88

  monarch caterpillars, 180–88

  Montgomery, Sy, 112, 178

  moon, 102

  full, 136

  moose, 89–90, 166

  Mormon crickets, 176

  Morocco, Craig, 159

  mosquitoes, 103

  mother-daughter relationship, 112–14

  moths, 184

  mountain lions, 71, 76, 79, 81, 164

  Murie, Olaus, 176, 177, 208

  musk oxen, 111

  muzzle loaders, 153, 158, 159

  N

  Namibia, 133

  Nashua, New Hampshire, 100

  Neolithic people, 197

  nervous system, 114

  New Hampshire, 6, 7, 35, 57, 59, 75, 79, 89, 100, 129, 149, 151, 153, 166, 168, 213–15

  New Hampshire Fish and Game Department, 59, 60, 64, 66, 67, 74, 83, 100, 140, 151, 153, 157, 218, 219

  New Hampshire Hunting Digest, 59, 218

  New Hampshire Natural Heritage Inventory, 191

  New York Review of Books, 177

  New York State, 75

  nonwinter behavior, 101–103

  northern Virginia deer, 166

  nursing, 11, 104, 105–106, 116, 117, 119, 126

  Nyssa sylvatica, 192

  O

  oak trees, 2–3, 7, 9, 10, 30, 56, 59, 84, 191, 192–96, 218

  oats, 64

  Odocoileus virginianus borealis, 166

  odor, 11, 24, 26, 32, 59, 93, 155, 170

  fawn, 11, 12, 120

  hunting and, 155

  peeing on feet, 24, 93

  Old Way, 35–36, 40, 144, 156, 160–61, 162, 163–64, 171, 223

  ornamental shrubs, 82, 84, 210–11

  overpopulation, 59

  owls, 168

  P

  pain, 114–15, 133–35

  Paleo-Indians, 164–65

  parrots, 205–206, 208, 209, 225

  Payne, Katy, 108, 113, 133

  penis, 24, 98

  Penobscot Nation, 153

  People of the Deer, 165

  Pepperberg, Irene, 225

  Peterborough, New Hampshire, 214

  pheromones, 26, 32, 93, 195

  photography, 139

  pigeons, 4, 5–6

  pineal glands, 85, 86, 87, 101

  pine trees, 9

  placenta, 110, 119

  poison, 211–13

  population, 7, 31, 61–64, 98–100, 166–67

  control, 151

  hunting fatalities, 100–101, 150

  management, 166–68

  near extinction, 166

  porcupines, 15, 71

  droppings, 153

  predators, 40, 41–42, 49, 76–82, 107, 111, 115–16, 164, 168

  fawns and, 119–27

  pregnancy, 30, 31, 88, 96, 103, 109

  first, 106, 112, 116

  R

  rabbit-call technique, 115

  rabbits, 71, 115, 116

  raccoons, 205

  rats, 197–98, 199, 206–212, 213

  poison, 211–13

  recognizing deer, 23–28

  red deer, 16, 28

  reindeer, 58

  Rhode Island, 165

  rock doves, 5

  Roosevelt, Theodore, 154

  Rue, Leonard Lee III, 17–18, 31, 82–83, 96, 106, 107, 109, 121, 166, 169, 172, 173

  rut. See mating season

  S

  Sami people, 58

  savannah, 85–86, 89, 198, 226n.1

  scats, 11, 60, 69–70, 176, 183

  fawn, 120

  scent glands, 24, 26

  Schrock, Don, 128–32, 152–60, 162, 163, 211

  Scotland, 16

  scrapes, 92–96, 98

  screams, 114–16

  seasons, deer, 85–117

  labor and childbirth, 103–117, 119

  mating, 88–101

  seasons, human, 85–87

  semen, 96, 97

  shared characteristics, 175–79

  shelter, 7, 8–10, 45–46, 51, 64, 103, 144–45

  winter, 64–67

  shrubs, ornamental, 82, 84, 210–11

  singing mice, 201

  size, 23, 43

  slaughterhouses, 150

  smell. See odor; pheromones

  snakes, 3, 15, 176

  snow, 9–10, 53–56, 65, 73, 75, 83, 100, 105

  social behavior, 18–23, 126

  families, 29–42

  fawns, 119–26

  gender and, 25

  mating, 88–101

  Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests, 188, 213

  sparring, 89–91, 169

  sparrows, 4

  sperm, 89

  spikers, 156–57, 162

  spring, 63, 64, 86, 101

  sprouts, 191

  squirrels, 1, 6, 191, 194

  feeding, 4

  starvation, 3, 50–53, 67–68, 82–83, 87, 221

  status, deer, 30–32, 38, 43, 48–53, 62

  stomach, divisions, 73–74

  summer, 48, 71

  sun, 85–86, 102, 193, 199, 226n.1

  survival of the fittest, 31

  T

  tambalacoque trees, 190

  tarsal glands, 24, 26

  Tau Group, 48–53, 63, 65, 74, 101, 155, 221

  testicles, 24, 89, 162

  put in trees by hunters, 162–63

  testosterone, 98, 101

  ticks, 84

  tigers, 58

  Tigris River, 197

  tools, 92–93

  toxins, 175, 195

  tracking, 9, 131–32, 156–57, 176

  trails, 7

  transplantation, 167–68

  traps, 211

  travel, for food, 64–65, 67

  trees, 2–3, 7, 8, 9–10, 102, 188–96

  sprouts, 191

  See also specific trees

  turkeys, 1, 3, 23, 54–55, 80, 220, 223

  coyotes and, 76–78

  feces, 69

  feeding, 1–2, 20–21, 23, 37, 39, 69, 78, 220–21

  twin fawns, 29, 45, 107, 112, 119

  U

  urination, 24, 69

  estrus, 99

  fawn, 120

  on feet, 24, 93

  V

  vehicle accidents, 44, 84, 129–30, 147–50

  venison, 168

  Vermont, 76, 166

  voles, 197

  vulva, 25

  W

  Wapack Wildlife Reserve, 97, 214

  Washington Park Zoo, Seattle, 108

  weasels, 213

  weight, body, 64, 67–68

  at birth, 109

  wheat, 197, 198

  whitetails, 16–17, 57, 58, 164, 166

  wildebeests, 111

  winter, 9–10, 37–38, 46, 48, 71, 87, 88, 98, 100, 101, 222

  body weight, 64, 67–68

  feeding deer during, 50–56, 57–84

  late, 72–73

  shelter, 64–67

  Wittgenstein, Ludwig, 221–22

  wolves, 164, 165, 201

  wood rats, 197

  Also by Elizabeth Marshall Thomas

  The Harmless People

  Warri
or Herdsmen

  Reindeer Moon

  The Animal Life

  The Hidden Life of Dogs

  The Tribe of Tiger: Cats and Their Culture

  The Social Lives of Dogs: The Grace of Canine Company

  Certain Poor Shepherds

  The Old Way: A Story of the First People

  About the Author

  One of the most widely read American anthropologists, ELIZABETH MARSHALL THOMAS has observed dogs, cats, and elephants during her half-century-long career. In the 1980s Thomas studied elephants alongside Katy Payne—the scientist who discovered elephants’ communication via infrasound. In 1993 Thomas wrote The Hidden Life of Dogs, a groundbreaking work of animal psychology that spent nearly a year on the New York Times bestseller list. Her book on cats, Tribe of Tiger, was also an international bestseller. She lives in Peterborough, New Hampshire, on her family’s former farm, where she observes deer, bobcats, bear, and many other species of wildlife.

  Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins authors.

  Credits

  Jacket design by Amanda Kain

  Jacket photograph © Bob Metcalfe

  Epub designed by Elliott Beard

  Copyright

  THE HIDDEN LIFE OF DEER. Copyright © 2009 by Elizabeth Marshall Thomas. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

  ePub Edition July 2009 ISBN 978-0-06-190209-3

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Thomas, Elizabeth Marshall, 1931–

  The hidden life of deer : lessons from the natural world / Elizabeth Marshall Thomas. — 1st ed.

  p. cm.

  ISBN 978-0-06-179210-6

  1. Deer—Behavior. 2. Thomas, Elizabeth Marshall, 1931– I. Title.

  QL737.U55T4826 2009

  599.65’15—dc22

  2009002777

  09 10 11 12 13 ov/rrd 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

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