White-tail Deer by LAwebTek

White Tailed Deer

Author: LAwebTek

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Location:

Whitetail can be found in all of the US except California and Nevada; they can also be found in all southern provinces in Canada.

Common Name:

White-tailed Deer, Whitetail, or Virginia Deer

Scientific Name:

Odocoileus Virginianus

Physical Characteristics:

The Whitetail is a small to medium-sized deer. In the summer, the deer is tan or reddish brown and turns to a colder grayish brown in winter. The belly, throat, nose band, and eye ring, are white. The beautiful tail that gives the animal its name is 6-13 in (15-33 cm) with the underside white. The Whitetail will flash this warning when they sense danger and while they run.

Height: 27-45" (68-114 cm)

Weight: Male: 150-310 lb (68-141 kg); Female: 90-211 LB (41-96 kg).

Habitat and Range:

The Whitetail lives across North America on farmlands, brushy areas, woods, and even suburbs where they can find garden vegetation. Once nearly exterminated in the Northeast and Midwest of the US, the deer is now more abundant than ever. It has become the most plentiful game animal in eastern North America. This is due to the hunting restrictions and the decline in number of wolves and Mountain Lions, the Whitetail's main predators.

Behavior:

The Whitetail may be active at any time of the day, with dawn and dusk being the ideal time for sighting the animal. The deer is a beautiful runner with a bounding gate. It reaches top speeds of 35 mph (57km/h). This deer can make vertical leaps of 8.5 feet (2.6 m) and horizontal leaps of 30 feet (9 m). When the deer becomes frightened it snorts through its nose and slowly stamps its hooves, a signal that alerts other nearby deer to danger. When alarmed, the deer flags its tail, displaying a large, bright flash of white. This is the final signal of danger to all the deer and it also helps a fawn follow its mother in flight. The Whitetail does not usually travel in large herds, they are usually seen in groups of 2-10. The bucks and does herd separately most of the year, but in winter they may gather together, or "yard up." Sometimes 150 deer may group in one yard. Yarding keeps the trails passable during heavy snow and protects the deer from predators, there is always safety in numbers.

Breeding & Reproduction:

The mating season varies with the location. In the north, they will breed in November and in the southern areas they usually begin in January or February. The Whitetail is less polygamous than other deer, usually a bucks mates with only a few doe. A young doe bred for the first time usually has one fawn after a gestation of 6.5 months. Thereafter she will have twins and occasionally triplets if resources are abundant.

Care for Young:

Fawns stay with their mother into the fall or winter. The fawns are spotted and can walk within a few hours of birth, but they will remain hidden in tall grasses or brush, waiting silently and still for their mother to return and feed them. The young blend in well with most surroundings because their coats are speckled with white. They begin to lose this camouflage after 9 months. The male fawn will begin growing antlers after several months. A doe and her two-year old fawns is a common sight and easy to identify. However, the doe generally drives off her young before giving birth to another pair.

Diet:

The Whitetail grazes on most green plants, including aquatic ones in the summertime. In autumn, it will find acorns, other nuts, and corn. During winter, it browses in the woods, eating the bark off trees, including the twigs and buds of viburnum, birch, maple, and other conifers.

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Updated 2010-11-11

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