All these little animals are deer and are
made by companies such as Ganz, Aurora and the Stuffed
Animal House. The little fawn at left is Farrah made
by Aurora. The two white-tailed deer next to her are made
by the Stuffed Animal House. 
Then
there is a little Soft Spot Deer made by Ganz,
and a little Elk made by Wild Republic. The little deer
at right and in back is from Ganz. You might find some of these
deer in the Gift Shop.
White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus)
are the most abundant hoofed mammals in North America. They are
from 4 to 6 feet long and are about 3 feet tall at the shoulder.
They have a white tail on the underside that is raised when they
are alarmed. They are most active in the morning and evenings
and rest during the day. Females have no antlers.
North America's swiftest and largest land
animals are hoofed animals, or ungulates. Deer are browsers.
They are also ruminants, which means they have four stomachs.
Each section of the digestive tract has a different function
which breaks down the food and extracts all the nutrients.
Deer, both white-tailed and mule, have
various strategies for eluding their pursuers, which can include
cougars, coyotes, wolves, lynxes and bobcats. Deer live in forests
where they can run from their predators and get lost among the
trees or bound over logs and boulders and escape. White-tails
are found throughout North America; the mule deer is found mostly
in the West. The average lifespan of deer in the wild is 10 years,
but they have lived to 25 years in captivity.
These deer are Rudy Pitoody
(left) the Boyds bear in a reindeer suit. Next is Rudy
the Puffkin, then Swifty the Puffkin deer and on the right
is Forrester the Bearington Deer.
