Facts about White-tailed Deer

A white-tailed deer is a medium-sized deer, native to the North American continent. It has 18 sub-species spread across the southern areas of Canada and most of the United States. Lately, it has also been introduced to some parts of Europe.

Facts About White-Tailed Deer

Also known as Virginia deer or the Jumping deer, its scientific name is Odocoileus virginianus. It is known as the white-tailed deer because the underside of its tail is white in color. This white side plays an important role in communication; it is displayed to warn the herd of danger.

This animal sports a reddish brown coat in summer and spring, which changes to dull grayish brown in winter. A male white-tailed deer may weigh between 150 to 300 pounds, whereas the female species weigh about 100 to 200 pounds. Only male species or bucks sport antlers which have branches and sharp pointed edges, these antlers prove useful in battles to save the territory. The antlers are shred every year. The life span of this animal ranges from 6 to 14 years but on an average, it lives for about 11 years.

White-tailed deer communicates by making different sounds, through scents and body language. They 'snort' to alert the herd, while fawns 'bleat' to call their mother. The scent glands on their legs helps them to demarcate their territory.

Mating of white-tailed deer takes place between October and December, which is followed by a gestation period of 7 months. The doe gives birth to 1 or 2 fawns by June. The fawns have reddish brown coats with white spots. These white spots disappear within a year. They start walking at birth, and are completely weaned by the completion of six weeks of age. Although the herd consists of a doe and her young ones, bucks join the group during the mating period and try to keep the other bucks away.

Basically herbivores in nature, these animals can eat anything ranging from leaves and shrubs to shoots and cactus. It feeds on green leaves in summer but has to satiate its hunger with nuts and twigs in winter. Its specially designed stomach allows it to quickly eat food, without even chewing properly, and then ruminate to digest it. Some bacteria present in its stomach change according to its dietary habit, thus making it easier for the white-tailed deer to eat and digest food.

The predators of a white-tailed deer include Gray wolves, cougars, Bobcats, coyotes and bears. Scavengers like vultures, hawks, eagles and foxes relish on their carrion or their young ones. They mainly depend on their sense of smell to sense danger, and resort to snorting or stamping their hooves to alert their herd about it.

These animals are nocturnal and crepuscular in nature and most often active at dawn and dusk. Being very good sprinters, white-tailed deers can clock a speed of 30 miles per hour and leap to a distance of 30 feet. These animals can swim at a speed of 13 miles per hour.

On the verge of extinction at one point of time, this animal is seen in plenty today. In fact, the wildlife conservation methods have been so successful that it is feared that the over-population of this species will overburden bio-diversity.