Description: Size varies greatly;
a small to medium-size deer. Tan or reddish brown above in summer;
grayish brown in winter.
Belly, throat, nose band, eye ring, and inside of ears are white.
Tail brown, edged with white above, often with dark stripe down
center; white below. Black spots on sides of chin. Buck antlers
have main beam forward, several unbranched tines behind, and
a small brow tine; antler spread to 3' (90 cm). Doe rarely has
antlers.
Fawn spotted.
Warning: The White-tailed Deer population has
become a public-health concern with the onset of Lyme disease,
which is transmitted by
ticks carried by the deer.
Breeding: Reproductive season varies: first
2 weeks in November in north, January or February in south.
Habitat: Farmlands, brushy areas, woods, and
suburbs and gardens.
Range: Southern half of southern tier of Canadian
provinces; most of U.S., except far Southwest.
Discussion: Although primarily nocturnal, the
White-tailed Deer may be active at any time. The animal usually
beds down near dawn, seeking concealing cover. This species is
a good swimmer. The White-tailed Deer is also a graceful runner,
with top speeds to 36 mph (58 km/h), although it flees to nearby
cover rather than run great distances. This deer can make vertical
leaps of 8 1/2 feet (2.6 m) and horizontal leaps of 30 feet (9
m). The White-tailed Deer grazes on green plants, including aquatic
ones in the summer; eats acorns, beechnuts, and other nuts and
corn in the fall; and in winter browses on woody vegetation,
including the twigs and buds of viburnum, birch, maple, and many
conifers.
The four-part stomach allows the deer to feed on items that most
other mammals cannot eat. When
nervous, the White-tailed Deer snorts through its nose and stamps
its hooves, a telegraphic signal that alerts other nearby deer
to danger. If alarmed, the deer raises, or "flags," its
tail, exhibiting a large, bright flash of white; this communicates
danger to other deer and helps a fawn follow its mother in flight.
