The red deer (lat. Cervus elaphus) is one of the largest deer species. A male red deer is called a stag or hart, and a female is called a hind. It is an herbivorous mammal with a wide distribution throughout the northern hemisphere. In Greece, it used to be widely distributed throughout the country; today, however, the species is on the verge of extinction, with only one indigenous population surviving in Central Rodopi.
In summer, the hair of adults is short with a reddish-brown color, while in winter it is longer and acquires a gray tint. The main feature of the stag is its large and hard horns in the form of branches (also called antlers); these horns grow from spring until the end of winter when they fall. The deer’s swift running, and acute senses are its only way to defend itself.
Red deer prefer to live in evergreen deciduous forests, far from human activities. In the summer, they reach areas with higher altitudes, where they feed mainly on herbaceous plants; on the contrary, during the winter, they move lower where the food is in abundance and they feed on leaves and branches of oak, chestnut, birch, willow, etc. Stags, that is, male deer, form their own herds separately from females, whereas females keep their newborn calves up to the age of three.
Deer appear in the art and in the myths of peoples all over the world. According to Greek mythology, the deer was the sacred animal of the goddess Artemis (Diana); it is also associated with Greek heroes as for example, Hercules and his labors (i.e., the deer with the golden horns), and Agamemnon - among others.
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