White-tailed deer

The white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), also known commonly as the whitetail and the Virginia deer, is a medium-sized species of deer found across North and South America. It is the most common large plant-eating animal in the Americas. Along with its natural predator, the mountain lion (Puma concolor), it is one of the most widespread land mammal species in both continents and the world.

White-tailed deer are very adaptable and can live in many different places. They are found in dry grasslands, the rainy Amazon and Orinoco basins, the wide flat Llanos, and even the high mountains of the Andes. There are several types or subspecies of white-tailed deer, each adjusted to its special home.

These deer play an important role in many ecosystems. They provide food for predators and help plants grow by spreading seeds. Their presence helps keep the balance of nature in many areas where they live.

Distribution

The white-tailed deer is very common in North America, especially in states east and south of the Rocky Mountains. It is not found on the American West Coast or the Baja California Peninsula, where other deer live instead. Texas has the largest population of white-tailed deer.

White-tailed deer have also been introduced to places far from their original homes, like New Zealand, parts of Canada, the Caribbean, and several countries in Europe, mostly for hunting. They adapt well to many different environments and are most active during dawn and dusk.

Taxonomy

Some scientists tried to split white-tailed deer into many types by looking at their looks. But studies of their genes show there are fewer types than thought. The Florida Key deer and the Columbian white-tailed deer are both protected as endangered in the United States under the Endangered Species Act. In the United States, the Virginia white-tail is one of the most common types.

Central and South America have many types of white-tailed deer that live from Guatemala all the way to Peru.

Subspecies

There are 38 types of white-tailed deer that have been described. Seventeen of these live in North America.

North and Central America

• O. v. acapulcensis – Acapulco white-tailed deer (Acapulco, SW Pacific Mexico)
• O. v. borealis – Northern white-tailed deer (NE US, E Canada, the largest, darkest type)
• O. v. carminis – Carmen Mountains white-tailed deer (Texas-Mexico borderlands)
• O. v. chiriquensis – Panamanian white-tailed deer (Panamá)
• _O. v. clavium – Key deer (Florida Keys)
• O. v. couesi – Coues's / Arizona white-tailed / fantail deer (Arizona, New Mexico, Northern Mexico)
• O. v. dacotensis – Dakota or northern plains white-tailed deer (North and South Dakota, US)
• _O. v. hiltonensis – Hilton Head Island white-tailed deer (South Carolina)
• _O. v. leucurus – Columbian white-tailed deer (Oregon and western coastal area)
• O. v. macrourus – Kansas white-tailed deer (Kansas, US)
• O. v. mcilhennyi – Avery Island white-tailed deer (Louisiana, US)
• O. v. mexicanus – Mexican or Central Plateau white-tailed deer (central Mexico)
• O. v. miquihuanensis – Miquihuan white-tailed deer (northern central Mexico)
• O. v. nelsoni – Chiapas white-tailed deer (southern Mexico to Nicaragua)
• O. v. nemoralis – Nicaraguan white-tailed deer (Gulf of Mexico south to Suriname; further restricted from Honduras to Panama)
• _O. v. nigribarbis – Blackbeard Island white-tailed deer (Georgia, US)
• O. v. oaxacensis – Oaxaca white-tailed deer (Oaxaca, southern Mexico)
• O. v. ochrourus – northwestern white-tailed deer or northern Rocky Mountains white-tailed deer
• O. v. osceola – Florida coastal white-tailed deer (Gulf coast of Florida, Alabama)
• O. v. rothschildi – Isla Coiba deer (Coiba Island, Panamá)
• O. v. seminolus – Florida white-tailed deer (mainland Florida, US)
• O. v. sinaloae – Sinaloa white-tailed deer (Sinaloa, Mexico)
• O. v. taurinsulae – Bull Island white-tailed deer (Bulls Island, South Carolina)
• O. v. texanus – Texas white-tailed deer (Texas, US)
• O. v. thomasi – Mexican lowland white-tailed deer (southern Mexico)
• O. v. toltecu – Rainforest white-tailed deer (southern Mexico and Guatemala to El Salvador)
• O. v. venatorius – Hunting Island deer (Hunting Island, South Carolina)
• O. v. veraecrucis – Northern Veracruz white-tailed deer (Veracruz, Mexico)
• O. v. virginianus – Virginia or southern white-tailed deer (Virginia and West Virginia, US)
• O. v. yucatanensis – Yucatán white-tailed deer (northern Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico)

Seneca white deer

Three O. v. borealis, New Hampshire

O. v. nemoralis, female, Costa Rica

O. v. nelsoni, fawn about two weeks old, Belize

Closeup of O. v. borealis fawn.

O. v. couesi doe at Grand Canyon Deer Farm.

South America

• O. v. cariacou – Llanos white-tailed deer (French Guiana and northern Brazil)
• O. v. curassavicus – Curaçao white-tailed deer (Curaçao)
• O. v. goudotii – Páramo white-tailed deer (Andean Colombia to western Venezuela)
• O. v. gymnotis – Venezuelan white-tailed deer (northern Venezuela, including Llanos region)
• O. v. margaritae – Margarita Island deer (Margarita Island)
• O. v. nemoralis – Nicaraguan white-tailed deer (Gulf of Mexico to Suriname in South America; further restricted from Honduras to Panama)
• O. v. peruvianus – Andean or South American white-tailed deer (most southerly distribution, to Peru and possibly Bolivia)
• O. v. tropicalis – West Colombian white-tailed deer (Peru and Ecuador, possibly Colombia)
• O. v. ustus – Ecuador white-tailed deer (Ecuador; possibly southern Colombia and northern Peru)

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Male O. v. goudotii, Colombia

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Male O. v. goudotii browsing, Colombia

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Male O. v. goudotii, Colombia

Description

The white-tailed deer changes its fur with the seasons. In spring and summer, its fur is reddish-brown, and in fall and winter, it turns grey-brown. You can tell a white-tailed deer by the white underside of its tail, which it raises when it feels danger.

Deer get older and their snouts get longer and their coats get grayer. Some white deer in New York are all white except for their nose and hooves. These deer live in a special area called the Seneca Army Depot, where they are protected.

White-tailed deer have special eyes that help them see well at night and during the day. They can notice movement better than people, especially in dim light.

Size and weight

White-tailed deer come in different sizes depending on where they live. Male deer in North America usually weigh between 68 to 136 kg. Female deer usually weigh between 40 to 90 kg. Deer from warmer places are smaller than those from colder areas.

Antlers

Only male deer grow antlers, and they grow new ones every year. Sometimes, female deer can grow antlers too, but this is rare. Antlers start growing in late spring and are covered with soft skin called velvet. By late December to February, male deer shed their antlers after the breeding season.

Ecology

White-tailed deer live in many places, from forests to grasslands. They are found all over the Americas. Some deer have big antlers, especially in colder areas. Others, like those in Florida, are smaller.

These deer eat many plants, such as leaves, grasses, and fruits. They can eat foods that might be harmful to people, like certain mushrooms. Their special stomachs help them digest these foods.

White-tailed deer have many natural predators, including wolves, cougars, and alligators. These animals help keep the deer population balanced. When threatened, deer can run very fast and jump high to escape danger. In places where predators are rare, deer numbers can grow too large, which sometimes harms the plants and trees where they live.

In some areas, deer have become too numerous, leading to damage to crops and forests. To manage their numbers, people use hunting and other methods. These efforts help keep both the deer and their habitats healthy.

Behavior

Male deer, called bucks, compete to breed with females. They fight to show who is strongest. Bucks try to mate with many females but often don’t eat or rest much during this busy time, called the rut. The rut lasts longer in warm places and shorter in cold ones. Temperature and the number of males around affect how intense the rut becomes.

Reproduction

Female deer, called does, are ready to mate in the fall, usually in October or November. This happens because the days get shorter in autumn. Does can become mature at six months, but most are about 18 months old when they first mate. They have one to three baby deer, called fawns, in the spring, usually in May or June. Fawns are born with spots, which they lose by their first summer. For the first month, mother deer keep their fawns hidden and nurse them several times a day. After a month, fawns start to follow their mothers. Male deer are ready to breed at about 1.5 years old.

Communication

White-tailed deer use many ways to talk to each other, like sounds, smells, and body movements. Baby deer make a high-pitched squeal to call their mothers. As they grow, this sound changes to a grunt. Does also grunt, especially when looking for their fawns. Bucks grunt too, and their sound gets deeper as they age. Both males and females snort when they sense danger. Bucks also make a special grunt-snort-wheeze sound to show they are strong and ready to breed. Deer also raise their tails when they spot danger, though scientists aren’t sure why they do this.

Marking

Deer have special glands that make strong smells. They use these smells to leave messages. Bucks rub trees with their antlers to mark their territory and to polish their antlers. They also scrape the ground with their hooves to make bare spots, called scrapes, and then rub urine into these spots. This helps other deer know which areas they pass through. Does often visit these marked spots too.

Hunting

White-tailed deer have been hunted for many years for fun and for their meat, called venison. They are probably the most hunted large wild animal in the Americas.

Venison is a healthy source of protein. Hunting deer helps control their numbers in areas where there are too many deer. This can protect plants and other animals.

In 1884, people in what is now the Czech Republic began hunting white-tailed deer in Europe. At one time, deer in North America were almost gone, but their numbers have grown back. In the United States, some states have more deer hunters than others, especially in the Northeast and Midwest.

Because deer live in many different places, hunters use many different ways to hunt them. Some common guns used for hunting deer are listed below.

Human interactions

By the early 1900s, too much hunting made the number of deer drop a lot in many places. For example, by 1930, there were only about 300,000 deer in the United States. After people spoke up about this, rules were made to protect deer, and their numbers began to grow again. By 2005, there were around 30 million deer in the U.S. Today, in some areas, there are so many deer that they can cause problems for farmers, especially when they eat crops like corn and damage fruit in orchards.

Deer can also jump over fences easily and sometimes cause trouble in places where people live.

Deer farming has become a big business, providing food, antlers, hides, and animals for breeding. Farmers must follow strict rules to keep farm deer separate from wild deer and to prevent diseases.

Deer often crash into cars, especially at night or during certain seasons, which can hurt both people and deer. Scientists study ways to prevent these accidents.

High numbers of deer can spread diseases. They often carry ticks that can make people very sick.

White-tailed deer are important symbols in many places. They are the state animal of several U.S. states and appear on flags, money, and even in movies like Disney's Bambi. They are also national symbols in some countries.

Climate change

Climate change is changing where white-tailed deer live and travel. Normally, very cold winters stop deer from moving north, but as Earth gets warmer, deer can travel farther north. This means more deer will live in places like Alberta, Canada.

Warmer weather also changes the plants and animals around deer. For example, when deer moved north in Alberta, the number of gray wolves also went up. In other areas, more deer can sometimes harm some plants. Warmer weather also helps tiny insects like ticks and midges live longer. These insects prefer warmer, wetter conditions and may become more common, which can affect deer health.