MULE DEER (so called on account of the large ears). or I:LACK:TAIL. One of the principal species of North ..tinerican deer (Orrytts macro tis. or I toloroilrus lit.mionms), originally ranging throughout the open region, of the western half of the l'ilited States, but by the end of the nine teenth century restricted to the upper valleys of the 'Missouri and Saskatchewan rivers, and to the Rocky Mountain region, and the country west and south of it from Northern Mexieo to Southern British Columbia. The Southwestern speeimens :ire considered a distinct variety. This deer appears never to have ranged of the plains, and was always most numerous in the broken country of the \Vest and Northwest. its favorite haunts are the brushy high-lying val leys. Its favorite place in summer is the s11111- of the 'mesas,' and the pastures oil the chap arrabettvered hills or near the timber-line, where it goes to rest along the edge of precipices that give a wide outlook. In winti•r it 'out's Itmer down, and gathers into large herds in the foot-hills, :lifter the In:11111er of the Wapiti (11.V.)• It is .oineWilat larger than the Eastern or Vir ginian her (see 1)t:Eii), and stands about 3 feet 4 inches high at the shoulder. Its body is rather henry. and its coat is 411111 yellowish in sum mer, rather than reddish, and in winter bluish gray. The cars are very large (suggesting the name). and heavily furred; and its antlers have
.hart basal snag, above which the beam pro jeets outward and then upward, forking equally and the prongs again dividing, so that there are normally 10 points. The stern bears a yellowish white disk, and the tail is of moderate length, round, and black at the end. The hide of this species made the best buckskin known to the Indians, and was most used by them for clothing. Its value was soon learned by the pioneers in the \Vest : and from about 186() to 1870 this deer was pursued so ruthlessly by hide-hunters that about 250.000 skins were annually to England alone, for several years. The venison also is of superior quality, and the haunts and habits of the animal, his craft and speed. make him the most interesting to the sportsmen of all the American deer. The fawns are often domesticated, a ml the adults thrive well in parks. and are to be seen in every zoidogical garden in the world. Consult: Caton. and D, r of (New York, 1877 ) ; Mayer ( ed. ) , sport with Gun and Rod (New York, 1892) ; Ledekker. Deer of All Lands (Loudon, 1393) Van Dyke, in Iloosevelt's The Deer Family (New York, 1902) ; and the writ ings of travelers and sportsmen in the Western United States. See Plate of DEER OF NORTH Am ERICA.