Caucasus Region to the west of the Caspian Sea. The deer of central and western Europe vary greatly in size, with some of the largest deer found in the Carpathian Mountains in Central Europe. Western European red deer, historically, grew to large size given ample food supply (including people's crops), and descendants of introduced populations living in New Zealand and Argentina have grown quite large in both body and antler size. Large red deer stags, like the Caspian red deer or those of the Carpathian Mountains, may rival North American elk in size. Female red deer are much smaller than their male counterparts. Size The male (stag) red deer is typically long from the nose to the base of the tail and typically weighs ; the female (hind) is long and often weighs . The tail adds another and shoulder height is about . In Scotland, stags average in head-and-body length and high at the shoulder and females average long and tall. Based on body mass, they are likely the fourth largest extant deer species on average, behind the moose, the elk and the sambar deer. Size varies in different subspecies with the largest, the huge but small-antlered deer of the Carpathian Mountains (C. e. elaphus), weighing up to . At the other end of the scale, the Corsican red deer (C. e. corsicanus) weighs about , although red deer in poor habitats can weigh as little as . Neck mane The males of many subspecies also grow a short neck mane during the autumn. The male deer of the British Isles and Norway tend to have the thickest and most noticeable manes. Male Caspian red deer (C. e. maral) and Spanish red deer (C. e. hispanicus) do not carry neck manes. Male deer of all subspecies, however, tend to have stronger and thicker neck muscles than female deer, which may give them an appearance of having neck manes. Red deer hinds (females) do not have neck manes. Antlers Only the stags have antlers, which start growing in the spring and are shed each year, usually at the end of winter. Antlers typically measure in total length and weigh , although large ones can grow to and weigh . Antlers, which are made of bone, can grow at a rate of a day. While an antler is growing, it is covered with highly vascular skin called velvet, which supplies oxygen