Mouse Deer of Malaysia and Borneo

Since the following includes factual information, I saw no need to re-write it, therefore I am including this block of information from wikipedia for educational purposes as a direct quote:

"Mouse Deer are also known as Chevrotain [pronounced shevro-tan]. According to wikipedia the Lesser Mouse Deer is the she smallest of all ungulates at a mature size as little as around 45 cm (18 inches) and 2 kg (4.4 lb). The Greater Mouse Deer has the following characteristics:

Body Length: 70-75 cm / 2.3-2.5 ft.
Shoulder Height: 30-35 cm / 12-14 cm.
Tail Length: 8-10 cm / 3.2-4 in.
Weight: 5-8 kg / 11-17.6 lb.

Mouse Deer don't have any horns or antlers, but both male and female possess enlarged upper canines. The male's are prominent and sharp, projecting either side of the lower jaw. They have short, slender legs like tooth-picks, which leave them lacking in agility, but also help to maintain a smaller profile (they need this when running through the dense foliage of their environment).

The female larger Malay mouse deer has the potential to be pregnant throughout her adult life, often having just a 1.5-3 hours break between giving birth and becoming pregnant again! The young are born fully developed, precocious, and can stand within a half an hour after being born. Mothers nurse their young standing on three legs.

Larger Malay mouse deer are nocturnal (only active by night), and hence rarely visible to human eyes. Using tiny, tunnel-like trails through thick brush when traveling, they rest and move at specific intervals several times a day. Extremely territorial by nature, both sexes of larger Malay mouse deer regularly mark their territories with urine, feces, and secretions from an inter-mandibular gland under the chin.

They can be tamed and domesticated easily, however, they are very delicate creatures. When they sense danger, larger Malay mouse deer drum on the ground with their rear hoofs at a frequency of 4 times / per second.

Family group: Solitary.
Diet: Buds, leaves, fruit, and probably small amounts of animal food.
Main Predators: Predators, birds of prey, large reptiles." [End of direct quote]

Reference

wikipedia

http://www.ultimateungulate.com/Artiodactyla/Tragulus_napu.html

When researching the topic, I found that this cunning little animal plays a similar role in the Malaysian culture as the Fox in our Western culture: it is believed to use tricks and clever manipulation to get what it wants, and to make up for its rather small size in the food chain and outwit the larger and stronger animals of the forest. Therefore, it is very popular in the Malay culture, and a car even wears its Malay name Kancil, supposedly for its speed and flexibility.