The cervidae family.

Part four the sika deer.

Sika deer were introduced to Britain from Asia about one hundred and thirty years ago. Feral herds escaped from country parks. The sika deer is closely related ti the red deer. They are mostly active at dawn and dusk where their is a lot of human activity. Rutting takes place for the sika deer between late September and November. Males are called stags, they will thrash around in bushes and fray bark with their antlers. They do this to show their dominance and hold a territory. Female sika deer are called hinds, their young which are born singly in June are called calves. The stags cast their old antlers between April and May with the new antlers being formed in August. In summer the sika deers coat is spotted, with a light chestnut brown coat. They have rounded ears with lighter hair on their forehead. This darkens on their brow to give a frowning look. They have a white tail and a white rump. They mainly graze on grass and sometimes shrubbery, they live in mixed woodland, they may also be found occasionally in coniferous woodland. The stag stands about eighty four centimeters at its shoulder, the hind is slighty smaller. Their noise is a quiet squeaking noise, but this increases at the rut so they can gather their females at their harum enableing them to mate. Fights between males can be feirce and sometimes can be fatal.