Bruce Bagemihl - Biological Exuberance

*asterisked references discuss homosexuality/transgender

Altmann, M. (1952) “Social Behavior of Elk, Cervus canadensis nelsoni, in Jackson Hole Area of Wyoming.” Behavior 4:116-43.

*Barrette, C. (1977) “The Social Behavior of Captive Muntjacs Muntiacus reevesi (Ogilby 1839).” Zeitschrift für Tierpsychologie 43:188-213.

*Chapman, D. I., N. G. Chapman, M. T. Horwood, and E. H. Masters (1984) “Observations on Hypogonadism in a Perruque Sika Deer (Cervus nippon ).” Journal of Zoology, London 204:579-84.

Clutton-Brock, T. H., F. E. Guiness, and S. D. Albon (1983) “The Costs of Reproduction to Red Deer Hinds.” Journal of Animal Ecology 52:367-83.

———(1982) Red Deer: Behavior and Ecology of Two Sexes. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

*Darling, E E (1937) A Herd of Red Deer. London: Oxford University Press.

*Donaldson, J. C., and J. K. Doutt (1965) “Antlers in Female White-tailed Deer: A 4-Year Study.” Journal of Wildlife Management 29:699-705.

Franklin, W. L., and J. W. Lieb (1979) “The Social Organization of a Sedentary Population of North American Elk: A Model for Understanding Other Populations.” In M. S. Boyce and L. D. Hayden-Wing, eds., North American Elk: Ecology, Behavior, and Management, pp. 185-98. Laramie: University of Wyoming.

Graf, W. (1955) The Roosevelt Elk. Port Angeles, Wash.: Port Angeles Evening News.

*Guiness, E, G. A. Lincoln, and R.V. Short (1971) “The Reproductive Cycle of the Female Red Deer, Cervus elaphus L.” Journal of Reproduction and Fertility 27:427-38.

*Hall, M. J. (1983) “Social Organization in an Enclosed Group of Red Deer (Cervus elaphus L.) on Rhum. II. Social Grooming, Mounting Behavior, Spatial Organization, and Their Relationships to Dominance Rank.” Zeitschrift für Tierpsychologie 61:273-92.

*Harper, J. A., J. H. Harn, W. W. Bentley, and C. F. Yocom (1967) “The Status and Ecology of the Roosevelt Elk in California.” Wildlife Monographs 16: 1-49.

*Lieb, J. W. (1973) “Social Behavior in Roosevelt Elk Cow Groups.” Master’s thesis, Humboldt State University.

*Lincoln, G. A., R. W. Youngson, and R. V. Short (1970) “The Social and Sexual Behavior of the Red Deer Stag.” Journal of Reproduction and Fertility suppl. 11:71-103.

Martin, C. (1977) “Status and Ecology of the Barasingha (Cervus duvauceli branderi ) in Kanha National Park (India).” Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society 74:60-132.

Morrison, J. A. (1960) “Characteristics of Estrus in Captive Elk.” Behavior 16:84-92.

Prothero, W. L., J. J. Spillett, and D. E Balph (1979) “Rutting Behavior of Yearling and Mature Bull Elk: Some Implications for Open Bull Hunting.” In M. S. Boyce and L. D. Hayden-Wing eds., North American Elk: Ecology, Behavior, and Management, pp. 160-65. Laramie: University of Wyoming.

*Schaller, G. B. (1967) The Deer and the Tiger. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

*Schaller, G. B., and A. Hamer (1978) “Rutting Behavior of Père David’s Deer, Elaphurus davidianus.” Zoologische Garten 48:1-15.

*Wurster-Hill, D. H., K. Benirschke, and D. I. Chapman (1983) “Abnormalities of the X Chromosome in Mammals.” In A. A. Sandberg, ed., Cytogenetics of the Mammalian X Chromosome, Part B, pp. 283–300. New York: Alan R. Liss.

IDENTIFICATION: A medium-sized deer typically with a grayish brown coat and white underparts, and antlers in both sexes. DISTRIBUTION: Circumboreal, induding northern North America and Eurasia. HABITAT: Tundra, taiga, coniferous forest. STUDY AREA: Badger, Newfoundland, Canada; subspecies R.t caribou, the Woodland Caribou, and R.t. groenlandicus, the Barren-Ground Caribou.

IDENTIFICATION: The largest species of deer (weighing up to 1,300 pounds); has slender legs, a pendulous nose, and (in males) prominent palmate antlers and a dewlap or “bell” beneath the throat. DISTRIBUTION: Northern Eurasia and North America. HABITAT: Moist woodland. STUDY AREAS: Jackson Hole, Wyoming; Kenai Peninsula, Alaska; Badger, Newfoundland; Wells Gray Provincial Park, British Columbia, Canada; subspecies A.a. shirasi, the Wyoming Moose; A.a. gigas, A.a. ameacana, and A.a. andersoni.

Caribou are highly gregarious, sometimes forming herds of tens or even hundreds of thousands of animals (although most groups contain 40–400 animals). They typically associate in all-male, mother-calf, and juvenile/adolescent bands. Moose, on the other hand, are more solitary, although they form aggregations of up to several dozen animals during the fall rutting period. Groups of bulls and cosexual herds may also coalesce after the mating season. In both species, animals mate with multiple partners rather than forming long-term heterosexual bonds, and males do not participate in raising their young (i.e., they have a polygamous mating system).

Behavioral Expression: Caribou and Moose occasionally participate in a variety of same-sex courtship and sexual activities. Male Moose, for example, sometimes direct courtship behaviors toward other males, including sniffing the anal and genital region, and approaching another bull while making the characteristic rutting sound, the CROAK (a grunting call that combines a deep, resonant syllable with a popping or suction noise). Younger male Caribou may also court other males by making a similar sound, sometimes known as SLURPING or VACUUM LICKING, in which the animal flicks or smacks his tongue against the upper palate while approaching the other male with his head outstretched. Female Caribou sometimes mount each other, as do younger males, while yearling male Moose have been observed trying to mount adult bulls. In addition, bull Moose sometimes associate with younger male companions—known as SATELLITES—that travel together in pairs or small groups, usually outside the breeding season. Another homosexual activity among males in both Moose and Caribou is antler rubbing. In these two species (as in several other types of Deer), antlers are highly sensitive organs and genuine erotic zones, and males may become sexually aroused when they rub their antlers together. Among Moose, this is done rather gently as a sort of “play-fighting” (the antlers may still have their velvet covering), while Caribou males rattle their antlers against each other when they are free of velvet.

Several types of gender-mixing occasionally occur in Moose, often involving unusual antler configurations. Intersexed males lacking a scrotum or testes sometimes develop what are known as VELERICORN antlers, which are covered in velvet and festooned with various ridges and knobs; such antlers are permanent, unlike regular antlers, which are shed and regrown each season. Other males—sometimes known as PERUKES—have elaborate, misshapen antlers covered with baroque nodule-like growths. Occasionally, females develop antlers, which may be single; spiked (without branches); covered in velvet; or lacking the flat, palmated structure typical of male Moose antlers. Caribou are the only deer in which females regularly sport antlers: depending on the population, anywhere from 8–95 percent of females may be antlered.