Introduction
The white-tailed deer can be found in Canada and most of the United States, excluding Hawaii, Alaska, and the Southwest. It has a grayish-brown coat in the winter and reddish-brown in summer. The underside of its tail is white hence the title “white-tailed deer.” The nose, throat, belly, and areas around the mouth of a white-tailed deer are also white. The coat of a young deer less than six months old is covered with white spots. Males contain horns or bony antlers that fall off every year in January or December and grow back in April or May.
Habitat
White-tailed deer is highly adaptable and thrives in different habitats. A mixture of croplands, hardwood, pasturelands, and bushlands provides the most suitable environment (Ballard 36). They opt to stay in bushy areas, croplands, forested woodlots, and meadows. However, newborn fawns require a habitat different from adult deer, which leads to different habitat arrangements and types. The survival of fawns is a vital part of population growth compared to adult survival because they are susceptible to environmental extremes and predation.
Reproduction
The breeding season of a white-tailed deer starts in late autumn to early winter, with a gestation period of approximately 202 days. Female deer generally birth at around one and a half years of age (Bartylla 65). Females bred as “yearlings” birth one fawn while older females birth twins throughout their lifespan, which may continue to approximately 10-15 years in the Adirondacks. Most fawns are born in early June or late May and weigh around 3-6 pounds at birth (Bartylla 67). The newborns also have a full coat of reddish-brown fur with white spots. Their eyes are open and nurse from a standing position when they are less than 24 hours of age, even though they are somewhat unsteady on their legs. At about one year of age, bucks begin growing their first antlers, and a new set will grow yearly. Antlers will continue to grow every year until around six years of age and then decrease
Approximately 60% of the body growth of a deer occurs in the first year of its life, and at the age of about three years, long bone growth is complete. Fawns have a slight odor at 7-10 days old and tend to move less except to nurse and react to disturbances like approaching predators by remaining still while flattened on the ground (Dewey). At 3-4 weeks old, fawns begin to consume vegetation and accompany females. Weaning is usually by four months but can take up to 6 months or longer. The winter grayish-brown replaces the spotted pattern in fawns from September to October. White-tailed dears attain sexual maturity at 1.5 years though many males will not breed until older.
Food and Feeding Behavior
White-tailed deer are herbivores and follow well-used trails to their feeding grounds. They feed in the morning and late afternoon hours, and their diet varies with the season and habitat. In fall, they feed on acorns, corn, and other nuts, twigs of woody plants and buds in winter, and green plants in summer and spring (Gallina and Lopez 7). The white-tailed deer is a ruminant hence has four stomach chambers for digesting food. Food is mixed with bile to form cud in the reticulum and rumen chambers. The cud is then regurgitated, re-chewed, swallowed and passed to the omasum through the rumen, where water is removed. The food finally enters the abomasum, where it is directed to the small intestine, and the nutrients present in the food are absorbed.
An adult white-tailed deer needs around 5-7 pounds of food every day. Energy needs are different with seasons and are greatest for males in autumn. Lactating and pregnant females require more energy in severe winter weather than other deer (Bartylla 83). Metabolism, however, decreases in wither under control for the photoperiod and increases from late winter to summer. During the winter period, fat and browsing reserves provide energy needs. When deep snow cover exceeds a hundred days, starvation can cause massive death compared to moderate Adirondack winters.
Activity and Movement
In the spring, the white-tailed deer are mainly active at twilight or crepuscular, while in summer, they are active during daylight hours. Bouts of activity occur equally in late autumn, at the beginning of the rut, and throughout this period. In winter, their activity is more likely in the afternoon (Ballard 40). Activity may be reduced by storms at any time of year, with increased activity happening before and after inclement weather. In late winter and spring, general levels of activity increase as the day length increases in summer and late autumn. When inactive, deer bend down or stand quietly. Increasing metabolism and day length are overlapped by long periods of snow cover. Starvation is caused by a lack of nutritious browse and depletion of fats, although they can lose 25-30% of their body and still survive (Ballard 43). Fawns from the previous year are most likely to starve since they lack enough time to store fat before winter. Severe winters impact the productivity of females and the survival of white-tailed deer.
Range
The home range of a deer is generally less than a square mile. Deer collect in family groups comprising a mother and her fawns, and a doe is solitary when she has no fawn (Bartylla 15). Excluding the mating season when the males are solitary, the male bucks live in groups comprising three or four individuals.
Predation
Deer are mainly managed by hunting parasites, and diseases also increase with the increase in their population, hence having few natural predators. The white-tailed deer is prey to mountain lions and gray wolves. A coyote is another predator of the white-tailed deer, but dogs and humans are the main predators (Gallina and Lopez 8). Deer populations can sometimes go high for their environment due to fewer predators, but they can starve to death. However, this can be controlled through hunting which is often allowed when their population grows out of control.
Adaptations
The hollow hairs on a deer’s coat help it to remain insulated during cold weather. The deer can camouflage better due to the coat of colors changing seasonally. Due to their spotted coats, the fawns can also hide on the forest floor. White-tailed deer have four-chambered stomachs since they are ruminants. This adaptation allows them to chew their food rapidly or quickly, store it for further chewing and later digest it (Bartylla 103). They can also eat quickly on grounds where they may have to look out for predators due to this adaptation. They are also able to eat plants that other animals cannot digest.
They can quickly notice danger because they have good hearing and a sense of smell. White-tailed deer stomp their hooves when alarmed or snort in an attempt to warn other deer. They may also show their white underside by raising their tail which are their distress signals or “flag.” This white underside helps fawns follow their mother when she is running. White-tailed deer run at speeds of up to 30 miles an hour; hence they are excellent runners and can escape danger (Bartylla 106). In addition to their incredible speeds, they are also excellent leapers and swimmers. Bucks or male deer use their antlers for defense or fight other bucks when competing for a mate. They also have glands on their legs and feet, which produce an odor that they use to communicate with each other.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the white-tailed deer has varieties of habitat such as bushland, cropland, and hardwood. They reproduce when they are about one and a half years of age, and the newborn weighs up to 6 pounds. Although they are herbivores, their feeding habits change with the season. They mainly feed in the morning and the afternoon. A white-tailed deer require approximately 5 to 7 pounds of food in a single day. Their activeness also depends on the season, and in summer, they are active in daylight, while in spring, they are active in twilight. They have few natural predators, although these change with time, especially when their population has significantly increased. They have various adaptations that enable them to thrive in their habitat. These include their coat, four-chambered stomach, speed of up to 30 miles per hour, leaping, and swimming abilit.
Works Cited
Ballard, Jack. Whitetail Deer. Falcon Guides, 2016.
Bartylla, Steve. White-Tailed Deer Management and Habitat Improvement. Krause Publications, 2016.
Dewey, Tanya. “Odocoileus Virginianus (White-Tailed Deer)”. Animal Diversity Web, 2020.
Gallina, Sonia, and Arevalo Lopez. “Odocoileus Virginianus”. IUCN Red List Of Threatened Species, 2015. IUCN, Web.