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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