Water deer or horny: photo, description

In the grassy thickets, near lakes and rivers of Korea and East China, there are amazing animals. They dwell in dense reed beds and in green foothills. Few people know about their existence.

Everyone knows the image of a deer - a handsome man with sprawling huge horns on his head. In fact, there are absolutely no horns among them. About this form and will be discussed in this article. But first let's give general information about these animals.

What is an animal deer?

The deer received its modern name from the Old Slavonic word "Yeleni". So these peoples of ancient times called a slender animal with beautiful branching horns.

The growth and size of different species of deer are very different. For comparison, let us cite the following example: the growth of the northern deer, with a length of 2 meters and a weight of 200 kg, is 0.8-1.5 meters; The height and length of the small crested dog reaches only one meter, and the weight is 50 kg.

The most slender is a noble deer. He has a proportional physique, with an elongated neck and a slightly slightly extended head.

Mostly deer live in Europe, Asia and Russia. Not bad, they also took root in America, Australia and Africa. The average duration of their life in the conditions of nature is up to 20 years. On farms of reindeer herders and in zoos, these animals live up to 30 years.

Water deer: photo, appearance

He refers to the family of deer. This representative is the only species from the genus of water deer. He does not have horns, but there are unusual fangs with which he can protect himself in case of danger.

This animal is not too big: the length of the body is 70-100 centimeters, the height of the deer at the withers reaches 50 cm, the mass of its body is from 9 to 15 kg. The tail has a length of only 8 centimeters. The upper lip is white, and there are rings around his eyes.

A good indicator of the age of the deer are teeth. Specialists in this field can accurately determine how old the animal is, according to the degree of grinding of the incisors and canines, according to their curvature and angles of inclination.

The water deer (photo below) has a brown-brown coat color. In the summer, this animal molts and the wool becomes short. In winter, it is fluffy and warm.

Features

A distinctive feature of the males are fangs located in the upper jaw. And their length in adult males is about eight centimeters. With the help of facial muscles this animal is able to control these canines. Also, a hornless deer can hide them during meals. But when there is a danger or there is a struggle for the female, they again straighten them. In connection with the presence of such a feature, this animal was called a vampire deer.

The lifestyle of this animal is mostly daytime, this handsome man is very cautious.

From the crested eagle (the main enemy), the water deer has learned to hide under the surface of the water. Feeling and hearing the predator, he rushes to the nearest canal with a running start, and, after swimming or running some distance along the bottom, tries to hide under the branches that hang from the shore, or under the driftwood. Above the surface of the water there are only ears, nostrils and eyes. This allows the deer to follow the enemy, most remaining inaccessible and invisible to the predator.

Habitat

Why are deerless deer called water deer? Because in natural natural conditions they live in river floodplains. Basically, these are the territories of the central and eastern parts of the Korean peninsula and the PRC (eastern part, north of the Yangtze valley).

Another water deer was brought to France and the UK and perfectly suited in local climatic conditions.

In fact, these animals lead a solitary way of life, sometimes finding a pair only for the period of the rut.

Reproduction

In December, the gong of water deer begins. Males are fighting for the female, using their unique fangs, capable of ripping each opponent's neck. After such fighting, many of the males remain with terrible scars on the muzzle and neck. The sounds that deer communicate with each other are very similar to barking dogs, and when they mate they make unusual clicking sounds.

Female males are called with a silent whistle. Six months pregnant females last. After birth, small deer are still hiding in dense bushes for a few more days, and then slowly begin to make out together with their mother.

In conclusion about the behavior of the animal and its nutrition

The water deer, as noted above, is a solitary animal. He is a good swimmer, able to surmount many kilometers in water in search of necessary food, swim from island to island in deltas of rivers.

It should be noted that the males between the fingers have glands producing a fragrant liquid, which they often mark the territory.

As the main food, tender and juicy leaves of shrubs are used, young grass is river and succulent sedge. There is harm from these animals. They cause great damage to agriculture, as they raid rice fields, thereby destroying together with weeds and cultural shoots.