1. Where did the deer in Nara come from?
In July10, Nara became the capital of Japan and was named Peace Beijing. Legend has it that the male god who built Emperor Lei at that time also rode a white deer and moved to the present Spring Society. Nara's deer came to Nara in that distant time, so it was called the messenger of God. Deer in Nara Park have been breeding for generations, with a history of 1300 years. It is said that there are still deer with white fur on their hind feet in Nara Park. Nara people think that those deer with white fur are descendants of the gods, and those who see them will be lucky. I haven't seen them once anyway.
2. How many deer are there in Nara Park?
According to the investigation report in, there are about 1226 deer living in Nara Park, including 26 males, 73 females and 234 young deer. There are three times as many females as males.
3. Are the deer in Nara Park wild?
It may be hard to believe, but these deer are really wild. Nara has the "Nara Deer Care Society" to protect deer, and there is also a deer park in Quanshe, which is responsible for taking care of about 300 deer injured in a car accident and about to give birth to a pregnant doe. Because the pregnant doe is very sensitive, it is easy to be angered by tourists and cause danger. The others are wild deer.
4. Can a deer bite? Do deer really bow their heads?
In fact, it's not so much a bite as a deer's mouth urging you to give it a treat. If you shake deer scallop in front of them, you won't give it to them. Some impatient deer may remind you with their mouths. As for the strength of this bite, it all depends on the size and strength of the deer that bit you, and whether you dodged in time. I was once struck by a flash of deer's head, and now I still have a small mark on my stomach.
As for deer and tourists saluting each other, or bowing and begging for food, it is actually entirely out of habit. They will nod their heads before the battle, so it looks like they are bowing. In fact, what they really mean is: I will be impolite if you don't give me Xianbei as soon as possible. When you don't want to feed the deer in front of you, you just need to put the scallops away and raise your hand to open them. The clever deer will know that your scallop is missing and won't chase you anymore.
5. What is the Lu Xian Cup made of?
80% of Luxianbei sold in Nara Park is produced by Takeda Nanjun Store, which is a special thin biscuit made of sugar-free and oil-free rice bran and wheat flour. Tian's shop has been recognized by the Ministry of Social Affairs and the Spring Palace, and has been passed down to the third generation. In spring and autumn, they produce 30,000 to 50,000 deer scallops every day. It is said that deer's favorite foods are deer scallops, (acorns) and grass on the ground.
Need to remind everyone that the deer in Nara likes to eat and eat anything given to it. Therefore, it is important not to feed any other food except deer scallop, because the salt, sugar and oil contained in the food people eat will burden the health of deer. Besides, everyone's paper and plastic bags should be put away as well as possible. If a deer accidentally takes them away, they will eat them, and these things may threaten their lives.
6. What kind of deer is Nara? What is life like?
Nara's deer is a kind of Japanese deer, the scientific name is sika deer, which belongs to Japanese native species. The average life expectancy of Japanese male deer is 15 years old, and that of female deer is 20 years old. Male deer and female deer live independent collective lives. Dozens to hundreds of male and female deer sleep in a fixed place at night, go to work in a fixed place during the day, eat deer scallops or eat grass.
July-September is the breeding season for deer every year. At this time, a male deer will be surrounded by several female deer and live a short polygamous life. May to June is the birth season of deer babies every year. Nara Deer Care Association held a newborn press conference for newborn deer babies in early summer.
7. Does deer hair change with the seasons?
This is bound to happen. Deer in Nara change their hair twice a year. When cherry blossoms are in full bloom in the new green season in spring, deer begin to change their hair for the first time and become beautiful sika deer; When preparing for winter in autumn, deer need to change into brown fur in winter. I feel less energetic, but I should be able to keep warm well. From winter to cherry blossom season, when you come to Nara Park, you will see the messy fur of deer. In fact, it is not that they are sick, but that there is a layer of fat under the fur in winter, which makes the fur look messy.
8. What is the relationship between Nara people getting up early and deer?
In the past, Nara had the saying of "sleeping in Nara" (sleeping in Osaka, sleeping in Kyoto, sleeping in Nara) and "getting up early". In fact, here's a little story:
As an angel of God, the deer in Nara have been treated and protected by local people since ancient times. Nara In ancient times, if a deer died in front of someone else's house in the morning, it was a big event of decapitation. Therefore, the first thing for early risers is to open the door to confirm whether there is a dead deer in front of their house. If a deer dies in front of his house, he will secretly drag it to someone else's house while others are still sleeping. After his family got up, he dragged the dead deer to the sleeping house. The last person to get up will be in big trouble.
Of course, the above is just a story, but the love for deer has not changed since ancient times. These deer are "national nature reserves". All cars should be polite when they cross the road. If they hit a deer with their car (including the deer rushing out and hitting it), they will be fined. In the course of Nara Driving School, there is also traffic safety education specifically for deer. In a word, Nara Deer is a good neighbor who lives in harmony with Nara people.
9. What deer-related activities are there in Nara?
1. Deer Meeting
At the end of March (vernal equinox) every year, a deer-throwing meeting will be held at the foot of Ruocao Mountain. Participants threw a special scallop three times larger than the ordinary deer scallop. The player who throws farthest wins and gets a pair of antlers. On the day of the event, a group of deer were ready to go. As soon as the player threw the deer shell, the deer immediately grabbed it and made a thunderous jingle. However, Lu Xianbei is usually taken away by faster crows.
2. Deer Sending Conference
Every winter and summer, it is usually held at 9 am or 10, but the date is not fixed. The location is "Fei Huo" of Chunri Dashe. At the beginning of the activity, the staff of Deer Care Society will play trumpet and Beethoven's sixth symphony "Pastoral". When deer in the park hear music, they will run around. At this time, the staff will feed the deer with acorns. After eating acorns, the deer will continue to ask the surrounding tourists for Xianbei.
If you want to enjoy the spectacular scene of deer gathering in your own name, you need to apply to Nara Deer Care Association and pay 20,000 yen. E-mail :info@naradeer.com.
The annual activity time can also be confirmed in official website, Nara Deer Care Association. Official website:
Cut off the deer's horns.
Since the early Edo period, in order to prevent antlers from hitting people or stags from attacking each other during estrus, sacrificial activities of cutting antlers have been started. Deer antlers naturally fall off from February to March every year, and new antlers begin to grow in April. Therefore, every autumn (65438+ 10), when the antlers mature and harden, they will be cut off. Antlers have no nerves, and cutting them won't hurt the male deer. Nevertheless, because antlers are a symbol of bucks' glory, they will try their best to break free and don't want to be cut off.
The festival is held in Luyuan of Chunri Dashe. A group of priests named Shizi chased the deer to the site where the antlers were cut, and cut off the antlers under the instructions of the gods. The scene is very warm and it is one of the classic autumn festivals in Nara, the ancient capital.
The above deer gathering meeting is held at a slightly different time each year from the staghorn cutting festival. Please go to the website of Nara Deer Care Association for confirmation before departure. Website:
10. Other knowledge about beans related to deer
There is no trash can in Nara Park. This is to prevent the favorite deer from eating in the trash can. Eating some domestic garbage will do harm to the fawn's stomach, so there is no trash can in Nara Park.
In order to prevent deer from eating bark, the trunks of most trees in Nara Park are surrounded by barbed wire.
There is a so-called "deer feeding line" in the forest of Nara Park. The height of the deer feeding line is about 2 meters, that is, the height of the deer raising its front foot and head to eat the leaves on the tree. All the leaves below 2 meters high have been eaten up, so the leaves above 2 meters high are kept neatly and look like a straight line from a distance, so it is called "deer feeding line".
The public toilets in Nara Park have a sliding door more than ordinary toilets, which is to prevent deer from breaking in.
The grass in Nara Park is smaller than that in the common grassland. This is because the shorter the grass, the less likely it is to be eaten by deer. This is probably natural selection. So another advantage is that you don't have to mow the lawn in Nara Park. If the area of grassland in the park is 79 hectares, it can save 654.38+000 billion yen of grassland consolidation expenses every year.
An American traveler once said that I was deeply moved by the harmonious life between Nara deer and people. For this reason, Nara has become my favorite city. I think no matter what it is, it only takes one reason to fall in love with a place. Knowing the history and anecdotes of Nara deer, will you have some different feelings when you see them next time?