White tail deer
Zoo Animals
White-tailed Deer
Odocoileus virginianus
No animal is more recognized than the white-tailed deer. Whether it is a mature buck with splendid antlers, a graceful doe, or a spotted fawn running with its mother, the white-tailed deer is one of the most popular animals. There are four species of deer in North America: the mule deer, white-tailed deer, elk, and moose. The white-tailed deer is the only species now present in the Carolinas. Deer are classified in the order Artiodactyla with other
hoofed mammals. Two animals that were once native to South Carolina are the Wapiti or Elk (Cervus elaphus) and the Bison or Buffalo (Bison bison). Both of these species have been extirpated from the Carolinas. Deer were plentiful when European settlers first arrived, but the animals were hunted extensively for meat and hide with no concern for conservation or management. As a result, deer populations dwindled rapidly in the Carolinas and throughout the rest of the United States. Through sound game management, deer populations today are at an all-time high and their numbers are continuing to increase. Today, it is estimated that there are over one million deer within the Carolinas.
A deer’s coat is usually some shade of brown that can range to almost a gray color. It usually has a white patch on its neck and large prominent ears. Its eyes are circled with white and a white band rings the muzzle. The belly is white with white running down the inside of the legs. The tail, about 9-11 inches long is mostly brown; although the underside is all white. The hooves have two toes covered with a hard keratinous (fingernail-like) material and another toe called the dew claw appears about 3 inches high on the back of each leg. Buck deer grow antlers and drop their antlers each year. Antlers range in size from little knobs that do not protrude from the skin to larger racks that branch out to a variety and number of points. An average mature buck has 8 or 10 points. Antler size depends on the age of the buck, its nutrition, and its genetic constitution.
Deer are not long distance runners, but they can run up to 30-40 miles per hour. They are also excellent swimmers and strong jumpers. To protect themselves, deer rely mainly on their strong sense smell, which is used in addition to their keen eyesight and good hearing.
Deer feed mostly in the early morning and twilight, but they will also get up to feed about any other time of the day. The white tailed deer is an herbivore, meaning that they only eat plant material. They will eat many green-leafed succulent plants, the tender new growths of stems, and fruits. One of their most important food sources is acorns.
Deer are so adaptable that they are found in almost any type of habitat. They like creek and river bottoms, oak ridges, pine forests, farmlands, or about any other type of habitat that offers food and cover. They have adapted well top suburban sprawl. In the United States, white-tailed deer are found in all of the 48 contiguous states.
In autumn, deer fatten up for the breeding season known as the “rut.” During mid-October and into November, the bucks establish hierarchies among themselves leading up to mating with the does. A buck rubs its antlers on trees and limbs, scrapes depressions in the ground and deposits scent to let other deer its his territory. Breeding between deer is promiscuous. Males will mate with several females. Autumn is the mating season, and females will breed every year. Females have a gestation period of 196 days. After the breeding season, bucks and does socialize less and the bucks become secretive again. Around the middle of January and early February, the buck’s antlers drop and in April and May they begin to grow again. Fawns are born in the month of June in a litter size of one to three fawns. Fawns are weaned at four months and stay with the mother doe for the first year. At the end of that year, yearling bucks leave the group. Yearling does may stay and form family units although most yearling does give birth.
White-tailed deer face many hardships. They are host to a variety of parasites, most noticeably the giant liver fluke. They may also contract a variety of diseases that cause weakness or death. The greatest cause of mortality is man. Deer are legally hunted in all states within this mid-Atlantic area. Many deer are also killed or crippled by collisions with automobiles. In places where deer are doing significant damage to agricultural crops, legal or illegal removal of deer by farmers also may be significant.
