File:White-Tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) (8e0fcc0b-de5c-4e23-bc9e-d416b31df45e).jpg

A buck running through a forest with autumn vegetation.

Description: The white-tailed deer is a medium sized deer found throughout North, Central, and South America. Today in Virginia, white-tailed deer are the only species of deer found in large numbers. However, prior to English arrival, larger deer species such as elk roamed the mid-Atlantic forests. Uses: It is difficult to overstate the importance of deer to the American Indians of the Chesapeake. Deer are large animals, so a single kill provides a great deal of meat to feed the family. Deer skin, or hide, is scraped, stretched, and dried to make a strong but smooth leather. This material is used to make clothing, shoes, and blankets. Other parts of the deer are also useful. Deer antlers are hard and strong, and therefore make useful tools. For example, antlers are often used in “flint napping” – the process of chipping away at stones to form arrowheads, spearheads, and knives. Deer sinew (leg or back tendon) could be used as a bowstring. Hide and hoofs can also be melted down to make glue, a useful material for a hunter who needs to make a quick repair to his bow and arrows.

• Keywords: deer; chesapeake