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WHITE TAILED DEER
LATIN NAME: Odocoileus virginianus
Characteristics
Male: Average Weight: 140lbsAverage Height: 32-34 inch at shoulderAverage Length: 70 inch long from nose tip to
tail base Tail is approximately 11-inches
Female: slightly smaller
ColorSummer:
- Upper body has short, thin, straight, wiry hairs that are reddish brown in color.
- Underside, throat, around eyes, inside of ears, and underside of tail are white.
AUG- SEP (Fall):
- They shed their summer hairs.
ColorWinter:
- Upper body has long, thick, hollow, crinkled hairs that are grayish brown in color.
- Underside, throat, around eyes, inside of ears, and underside of tail are white.
MAY-JUNE (Spring):
-They shed their winter hairs.
Fawn:
- Same color as a summer deer but has white spots in upper coat.
Day Old Fawn
3 MONTH OLD FAWN
Other Color Types
MELANISTIC:
-This is when there is too much pigment in the skin and hairs.
-This occurs less than albinism..
ALBINO:
-This is when there is no pigment in the skin aand hairs.
-This rarely occurs.
Other Color Types
PIEBALDS/CALICO:
- This is when there is lack of pigment in parts of the skin and hairs.
- This occurs more frequently than the albinism and melanistic.
Features - AntlersMales:
-They grow and shed antlers each year.
-The first set grows when the deer is10 months old.
- The antlers are 2 main beams with tines.
Females:
- They occasionally grow antlers, when hormone levels are high in the deer.
Features - AntlersMARCH-APRIL:
- The growth of the antlers begins.
- The antler is covered with a skin called velvet, which is rich with blood.
- The growth is influenced by pituitary gland which secretes a hormone called prolactin.
- The changes in length of daylight and increase in temperature influence the growth.
Features - AntlersAUGUST-SEPTEMBER:
- The growth of the antler ends and the velvet is rubbed off.
- Testosterone levels increase, leading to the breeding season.
- After the breeding season the testosterone levels decrease.
FEBRUARY (late):
- The antlers fall off.
Natural Food SourcesSummer:
- Herbaceous plants
- New growth on woody plants
- Green leaves
- Fruits (apples, pears, acorns, and persimmons)
Winter:
- Evergreen leaves
- Browse
- Dry leaves
- Any fruit left behind
HabitatPreferred:
- 10 years after clear-cut or brushy forest.
- Small patches of grass with evergreens
Improvements:
- Clear-cut for new growth
- Plant evergreen trees for shelter/concealment
- Create grassy openings.
PredatorsNatural:
- Coyote
- Bear
- Mt. Lion in some states
- Dogs
- Humans through hunting and automobiles
Predation by non-human predators is greater on fawns.
ReproductionWhen:
- September-January w/ the mid-peak in November
Gestation Period :
- 205 days
# Young:
- 2/3 of the does produce 1 fawn their 1st year.
- 2 year old and older average 2 fawns a year.
ReproductionMale:
- The male goes into rut.
- During rut the male looses 25-30% of its body weight.
- The male breeds with as many females as he can.
ReproductionFemale:
- The female comes into estrus when she is ready to breed.
- Estrus is the period of sexual maturity.
- The female will leave her family circle to bear young.
- She returns later in the year w/ her young.
Life Span
Captivity:
-10 to 12 years
Wild:
- Average of 1 1/2 years
Other Information- A deer can run up to 40 mph for a short distances and at 25 mph for longer periods.
- A deer can jump 9 ft high and a distance of 25 ft.
- Deer are good swimmers because of their air filled hairs.
- A deer is color blind and has difficulty identifying stationary objects. They only see shades of gray, along w/ inferred radiation that is emitted form an object.
Other Information- A deer will flip up its tail to signal danger, called flagging, this is to mislead predators.
- A deer is a split hoofed ungulate, animal w/ many stomachs (they have four stomachs).
-Scent producing glands:
- 2 tarsals glands on the inside of the hind legs at knee joint.
- 2 metatarsal glands above the hoof on the outside of hind leg.
- 4 interdigital glands between the toes.
Alarmed Deer/ Flagging
Other Information
Sounds:
- Whiew: forceful blow of air from nostrils, this is for alarm.
- Whine: does calling their fawn(s).
- Bleat: fawns calling their mother.
- Grunt: Buck mating call.
Problems w/ Large Populations of Deer
1. Damage farm crops.
2. Effects other wildlife species.
3. Effects regeneration.
4. Auto insurance rates increase.
Controlling Populations
-The best way t control the population is by killing off the females.
- Studies have shown that to have a health herd you need to balance out the age structure of the herd.
- An ideal number of deer per square mile is 21, but this number has fluctuated greatly in resent years.
The whitetail deer is our state game animal and needs to be managed properly to ensure a future for hunting.
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