Deer
Contents
Deer Mounts, or Portrait Busts in the Main Street Museum Collection:
Portraits, or Self-Portraits of Deer:
- 5 Point White Tail Deer in Good Condition fa.57228.00.po
- 8 Point White Tail Deer Portrait Bust fa.828.009.po
- 9 Point Whitetail Deer Portrait Bust
- Common, or White Tail, Deer fa.1989.33.po
- Only Somewhat Damaged Whitetail Deer from Nebraska fa.1989.32.po
- Wilfred, a Whitetail Deer Mount fa.2001.01.du
- White Tail Deer Mount with Wood Support Fully Exposed fa.1989.31.po — Original catalog #18
- White Tail Deer Portrait Bust fa.1989.31.po
Two Dimensional Representations:
Free-Standing Specimens
Antlers and Skulls
Overview
Deer are the ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae . A number of broadly similar animals from related families within the order Artiodactyla (even-toed ungulates) are often also called deer. Male deer of all species (except the Chinese water deer) grow and shed new antlers each year – in this they differ from permanently horned animals such as antelope – these are in the same order as deer and may bear a superficial resemblance. The Musk deer of Asia and Water Chevrotain (or Mouse Deer) of tropical African and Asian forests are not true deer and form their own families, Moschidae and Tragulidae, respectively. All other animals in Africa resembling deer are antelope.
Deer Hunting
Historic Appraisal
Upon its flesh were the first settlers of the State, to a very considerable extent, dependent for food. Indeed so eagerly was it hunted, and still so anxious were the people for its preservation, that a law for its protection...was one of the earliest acts of our legislature. But notwithstanding all that has been done for their preservation, their numbers have been constantly diminishing within the state, till they have become exceedingly scarce, except in a few of the most unsettled and woody sections.” —Thompson, 1848
