Wildlife Information - White-tailed Deer
Physical Characteristics
The white-tailed deer measures 4 to 6 feet in length and stands 2-¾ to 3-½ feet at the shoulder. The male weighs 100 to 300 pounds. The female weighs 85 to 130 pounds. During the summer months, the whitetail is reddish brown in color. As the weather grows colder, the whitetail’s coat turns grayish brown. The male grows antlers each spring. A layer of velvet, a skin-like covering that contains tiny blood vessels, nourishes the growing antlers. By fall the antlers have attained full growth, the velvet covering dries up and chips off. Antlers are used during battles for mating rights.
Home Range
The whitetail occupies a home range of 40 to 300 acres (generally restricted to 2 miles).
Feeding Behavior
The whitetail is most active in the early morning hours and late afternoon or dusk. It eats mushroom, wildflowers, ferns, lichens, fruits, nuts, clover, honeysuckle, apples, some aquatic plants, leaves of herbaceous plants, crops, acorns and the twigs and bark of woody deciduous trees and shrubs including dogwood, aspen, sumac, willow, oak, birch, and maple.
Geographic Location
The white-tailed deer is the most abundant hoofed animal in the United States, found in all states except for a few in the far west and southwest.
Habitat
The whitetail prefers the edges of forests, swamps, and woodlands with open fields.
Reproduction
Mating season is sometime between October and January. Males live apart from does except during the “rut” or mating season. Males make “scrapes” on the ground to serve as a territory indicator and to help females locate them. A scrape is an area, usually free of vegetation, where the males urinate. Gestation length is 7 months. In the spring, one or twin fawns are born, weighing 8 pounds each. Fawns are up and nursing within an hour after birth. Fawns are camouflaged with white spots. The spots disappear within 3 to 4 months. Fawns nurse for up to 4 months. Young males are independent at one year and females at two.
Did You Know?
- The white-tailed deer raises its tail when alarmed.
- The white-tailed deer is able to run at speeds of 35 to 40 miles per hour.
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