White-tailed Deer

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White-tailed Deer
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White-tailed Deer

• Classification
• Characteristics
• Antlers
• Social Organization
• Reproduction
• Food Habits
• Habitat
• Management

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White-tailed Deer

• Odocoileus virginianus underside of tail is
  covered with white hair
• Belong to family Cervidae (includes elk, moose,
  and caribou)
• Split hoofed
• No incisor teeth in the front of the upper jaw

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White-tailed Deer

• Ruminant animals
• 4-chambered stomach
• chew a cud
• Males grow shed a set of antlers yearly
• 30 subspecies
• In PA northern woodland whitetail

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Characteristics

• Average adult buck
• 140 pounds
• Stands 32-34 inches at the shoulder
• 70 inches long from nose to tail
• Does tend to be smaller than bucks

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Characteristics

• Fawns born with white spots for camouflage (looks
  like sun hitting the ground)
• Hair color alike in both sexes
• Varies with seasons
• Melanistic Black
• Piebalds partial albinos

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Senses

• Colorblind
• Easily alerted by movement
• Good senses of smell hearing
• Usually silent

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Antler Growth

• 1st set of antlers grows at 10 months old
• If the buck comes from an area with poor food
  conditions, first antlers will be spikes
  (single, main beams only)
• Growing antlers are covered by a skin called
  velvet
• Antler cycle is influenced by secretions from the
  pituitary gland

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Social Organization

• Matriarchal doe is head of family
• Most common adult doe, her fawns her yearling
  female offspring

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Reproduction

• Mating season (rut) begins in September and can
  last into January
• Reaches its peak in early November
• Age and health of a doe influence her
  reproductive capacity
• Adult females usually produce twins
• Tendency for young females to produce more males

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Food Habits

• Herbivores
• Preferences depend on availability in area and
  time of year

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Habitat

• Forest
• Provides concealment and food
• Brush is most efficiently created by clearcutting
• Cutting all trees larger than saplings

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History

• Were used extensively by Native Americans for
  food and clothing
• Population brought to record low by late 1800s
  due to extensive clearing of land, unregulated
  hunting, and loss of habitat
• Population has rebounded dramatically due to
  changing land uses, strict game laws, and a lack
  of large natural predators

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Management

• Overpopulation
• Strips the habitat of life-supporting qualities
  (for many species)
• Crop/landscaping damage
• Vehicle collisions
• Controlled through harvesting female deer