Whitetail Deer Info

Potrait of an adult doe

White-tail Deer – Sceintific Classification

Latin – Odocoileus virginianus
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Family: Cervidae
Genus: Odocoileinae

Typical Characteristics

The white-tailed deer as its name suggests is easy to recognise due to its characteristic white tail. It also has a white strip up its throat and around its eyes and nose. It is usually a light, red brown in the summer which turns to a more greyish brown in winter. The males are larger, and full grown can weigh from 70 – 140kg (150 to 300 pounds). In some cases they are much bigger, with the current record being a little over 227kg (500 pounds), shot in Minnesota. Male white-tail deer have antlers, which they regrow every year and use for fighting other males during the mating season. Typically these grow in a symmetrical arrangement, but can also grow in a variety of shapes. They start to grow in late spring and are shed only when all the females in an area have been mated with.

Where can you find them?

White-tail deer can be found all over the United States, in southern parts of Canada, Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia as well as a few places in Europe, namely Finland. They are actively hunted in all of these areas. They tend to inhabit woodlands and places with dense cover and edges, although they have adapted to thrive on prairie and grasslands too. The largest bucks tend to be found in the northern states such as Dakota and in Canada, although some of the larger bucks from the prairies of southern states have been known to rival them. In general whitetail deer get larger the further north you go.

A doe and her fawn - notice the characteristic white markings

The females (does) live in small family groups or herds, comprising of a few females and their fawns. Males sometimes gather in groups of three or four, but become solitary once the rutting season begins. They tend to live in the same area, and rarely go more than 2 square miles from their bedding areas. This is why finding well-used trails is so effective as they often use the same ones for years.
As mentioned above, some whitetail deer can be found in Finland. These were introduced from 4 individuals in around 1935 and have grown to around 30,000 today. In some areas they are actually posing a threat to native species as they are extremely well at adapting and tend to displace other deer herds.

Diet

The white-tail deer is a ruminant, which means it has a set of four stomachs. This allows it to eat a large amount of grass and other plants and then retreat into cover and digest it. It is predominantly a herbivore, although it has been known to eat other foods when available such as field mice and nesting birds. White-tailed deer have a specific set of bacteria in each stomach which change over the seasons allowing it to adjust its diet as food availability changes. It will eat green shoots and plants when they are abundant in spring and summer, and change to corn, acorns and fruits later in the year. They also have very strong stomachs meaning they can eat things that would harm humans, such as poisonous mushrooms and cacti. They tend to feed mostly in early morning and late afternoon.

Behaviour

A buck checking scent markings

Deer are very cautious animals, and are always alert. They have many natural predators such as cougars, coyotes and wolves. When alarmed they will alert each other by raising their tail, stomping the ground and snorting. White-tail deer are also exceptional athletes – they can run at around 30mph, leap high and long and often swim strong water courses. In fact, when in danger mature bucks often swim out to islands to escape predators (often humans).
Bucks will make scrape marks in the ground prior to the rutting season, and then make rub marks above them on the limbs of trees.

They will scent these marks with urine and scent from special glands, called sudoriferous glands found on the forehead. They do this to mark their territory and start to establish who the dominant male is. Bucks also rub-urinate frequently during the mating season, where they pee on their tarsal glands on their hind legs to create a strong odour, which they also rub against trees and scrape marks.
Making scrape marks and rubs on trees is not the only way whitetail deer communicate, they also have a unique voice. Does and fawns produce a squeal, called a bleat, and bucks produce a low pitched grunt which gets lower and lower the older it gets.

A young buck with velvet-coated antlers

Life Cycle

Deer populations can grow very quickly, providing there is enough food, water and shelter. Females are usually of reproductive age by one to two years, and mate between November and January. They typically give birth to two or three fawns six months later. These spotted fawns can walk from birth, and begin foraging for food very quickly. The mother often leaves her fawns in separate hiding places while she goes off to feed, and stops giving them milk after around 6 weeks. Males leave their mother after around a year, while a doe will stay with her for another year or so.

Whitetail Deer and Humans

Interaction with white-tail deer is becoming increasingly common, partly as we’re encroaching more and more on their habitat but also deer are adapting to urban habitats. In rural areas hunting is allowed and often encouraged to control population levels, but is urban areas deer populations can get out of control. Despite this there are only around 4 incidents per year of a deer attacking a human. If you’re looking for info on hunting them – look here.

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For an example of how dangerous they can be though, check out this video. This large, mature buck turned on the unfortunate bow hunter, who escaped without any long-term injuries.

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