White-tailed deer spend their summers grazing in the meadows and move
into the forests during winter for protection from the elements.
White-tailed deer, the smallest members of the North American deer
family, are found from southern Canada to South America. In the heat of
summer they typically inhabit fields and meadows using clumps of
broad-leaved and coniferous forests for shade. During the winter they
generally keep to forests, preferring coniferous stands that provide
shelter from the harsh elements.
Adult white-tails have
reddish-brown coats in summer which fade to a duller grayish-brown in
winter. Male deer, called bucks, are easily recognizable in the summer
and fall by their prominent set of antlers, which are grown annually and
fall off in the winter. Only the bucks grow antlers, which bear a
number of tines, or sharp points. During the mating season, also called
the rut, bucks fight over territory by using their antlers in sparring
matches.
Female deer, called does, give birth to one to three
young at a time, usually in May or June and after a gestation period of
seven months. Young deer, called fawns, wear a reddish-brown coat with
white spots that helps them blend in with the forest.
White-tailed
deer are herbivores, leisurely grazing on most available plant foods.
Their stomachs allow them to digest a varied diet, including leaves,
twigs, fruits and nuts, grass, corn, alfalfa, and even lichens and other
fungi. Occasionally venturing out in the daylight hours, white-tailed
deer are primarily nocturnal or crepuscular, browsing mainly at dawn and
dusk.
In the wild, white-tails, particularly the young, are
preyed upon by bobcats, mountain lions, and coyotes. They use speed and
agility to outrun predators, sprinting up to 30 miles (48 kilometers)
per hour and leaping as high as 10 feet (3 meters) and as far as 30 feet
(9 meters) in a single bound.
Although previously depleted by
unrestricted hunting in the United States, strict game-management
measures have helped restore the white-tailed deer population.
Fast Facts
- Type:
- Mammal
- Diet:
- Herbivore
- Average life span in captivity:
- 6 to 14 years
- Size:
- 6 to 7.75 ft (1.8 to 2.4 m)
- Weight:
- 110 to 300 lbs (50 to 136 kg)
- Group name:
- Herd
- Did you know?
- "White-tailed” refers to the white underside of the deer’s tail, which it displays and wags when it senses danger.
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