White-tailed Deer

The white-tailed deer, Odocoileus virginianus,

was so named because the underside of its tail is

covered with ?, and when it runs it often

holds its tail erect so that the white undersurface is

visible.

white hair

Whitetails belong to the ? family, which in

North America includes the elk, moose, caribou and mule

deer.

Cervidae

Cervids are split-hoofed mammals with no ?

teeth in the front of the upper jaw.

incisor

They are classed as

ruminant animals, meaning they have a four-chambered

stomach and frequently chew a "?."

cud

Adult male

whitetails grow and shed a set of ? each year

antlers

On rare occasions, ? also grow antlers.

females

Whitetails are the most ? large animal

in North America.

widely distributed

A male deer is referred to as a ?, and a female a doe.

buck

Does tend to

be ? compared to bucks of the same age.

smaller

Deer weights ?, depending upon age,

gender, diet and the time of year the weight is checked

vary considerably

For example, breeding-age bucks might weigh ?

percent more at the onset of the breeding season than

they do at its conclusion.

25 to 30

Adult deer share the same coat color and ?

markings

The

belly, throat, areas around the eyes, insides of the ears and the underside of the tail are ? all year long

white

During summer, the upper parts of the body are ?

brown, and in winter they are grayish brown.

reddish

Summer coats are composed of short, thin, wiry guard

hairs with no ?

underfur

Winter coats have long, thick

guard hairs that are ? with soft, wooly, densely

packed underfur.

hollow

Melanistic (dark-colored) and ? (abnormally white)

deer occur, but they are exceptionally rare.

albino

Partial white

deer, called "?" or "calico" deer, occur more

frequently but are still reported to make up less than 1

percent of the population.

piebalds

Fawns are born with reddish-brown coats dappled with

? spots

white

This simple pattern is excellent camouflage.

When a fawn is lying on the ground or in dry leaves, this

coat looks like the sun hitting the ground after it passes

?.

through the treetops

Whitetails have many scent-producing glands: ?,

one inside each hind leg at the hock joint; ?,

one on the outside of each hind leg between the hock

and the foot; ?, one between the toes

of each foot; and ? , one below the inside

corners of each eye.

two tarsal,two metatarsal,four interdigital,two preorbital

The tarsal and metatarsal glands

release scents conveying ?

excitement or fear

while the

interdigital glands produce odors that let deer ?

trail each other by smell

The preorbital glands are used to personalize

the prominent ? at "scrapes" - dirt areas

where leaves and grass are scraped away - that are used to

communicate with other deer during the breeding season,

also known as the rut.

overhanging branch

Deer can run at ? mph for short bursts and maintain

speeds of ? mph for longer periods

40,25

They are also good

jumpers, capable of clearing obstacles up to ? feet high or

? feet wide.

9,25

The ? guard hairs enable them to swim

easily.

air-filled

?, a deer's visual acuity is excellent

Day or night

Deer can

distinguish among different colors, but their eyes are

particularly adapted as ?

motion detectors.

Their keen senses

of ? help them to detect danger.

smell and hearing

Usually deer are silent, but they can bleat, grunt, whine, and when alarmed or suspicious, make loud ? sounds by

forcefully blowing air through their nostrils.

whiew

Does ? to

call their fawns, and fawns ? to call their mothers

whine,bleat

Although antler growth is evident on male fawns, the

? protrusions are not prominent

button-like

A buck's first set

of antlers begins to grow when it's about ? months old

10

Typical antlers curve upward and

outward to point forward, and consist of two main beams

with individual? growing upward from them.

tines

?are

common in yearlings because antler growth starts at a time

when the young buck's body still is growing.

Spikes

But because

antler development is tied in closely with the animal's ? status, older bucks may also

produce spikes if they come from an area with

poor food conditions.

nutritional

Antler growth is a complex process driven by hormones and ? (day length).

photoperiod

Antler

tissue is the fastest growing tissue known to man, having the capacity to grow an ? or more per day

inch

Annually, antler growth begins

when the days are ?

lengthening

Antlers grow from the

tip and are full of thousands of blood vessels and

are covered in?.

velvet

As the summer progresses and day length begins to decrease, testosterone production

increases. This triggers ? or

hardening of the antlers.

mineralization

The soft tissue is

transformed directly into bone by the depositing

of minerals within the cartilage matrix through

the extensive capillary network - hardening

the antlers from the ?.

base to the tip

Antler hardening

takes about a month starting in mid-

July and ending in mid-August, after which time, the velvet dries up and is ? off.

rubbed

After the breeding season, ? levels

drop off and antlers are shed in late winter or

early spring.

testosterone

Bent and twisted tines and

main beams often indicate the antler was injured

while ?

it was growing

? antlers occur

after the antler has stopped growing and has

hardened.

Broken

Antler shedding usually occurs ? in northern

states than southern ones

earlier

? and

general health (which relates to nutrition) factor into when a buck will shed his antlers

Natural variation

It is typical for most

bucks in an area to shed their antlers within a ? or so

of one another.

month

But each buck has an individual antler cycle,

and this also plays a role in when antlers are shed. This

antler cycle is independent of all other bucks and is thought

to be related to the animal's ?

birth date

The social organization of the whitetail is largely ?

matriarchal

Although large numbers of deer are sometimes seen

together in feeding or wintering

areas, these associations are usually

temporary and do not reflect

the same strong ties as?

associations.

family

The most common

social group is an adult doe, her

? and her yearling female

offspring. Sometimes

fawns

? generations of related does

are present in a family group.

three or

four

When fawning season approaches

in late May, adult does become

? toward their yearling

offspring; temporarily severing ties with the family group.

aggressive

Does remain? to

bear and rear their fawns. A doe's yearling offspring are left on their own for the

summer.

alone

For both male and female yearlings, this breakdown in family bond could result in

movement away from their mother's home range. This movement is called "?." If siblings do not disperse, they tend to remain together throughout

most of summer.

dispersal

Sibling groups

with yearling

bucks break up in

September as the

rut approaches Yearling bucks tend

to ?from

the mother's home

range at this time.

disperse

In

Pennsylvania, yearling

bucks travel ? miles

on average, although dispersal

movements of more than 40 miles

have been observed.

3 to 5

Yearling does

that do not disperse remain in the mother's ? and rejoin her, and her new fawns, between

September and October.

home range

During the breeding season adult and yearling bucks tend to stay ? except when in pursuit of a female approaching

estrus.

alone

After the breeding season in late January, bucks form

loose associations of usually two to four animals. These

? groups remain together throughout most of the

winter and summer months

bachelor

The breeding season of white-tailed deer begins as early as

September and can last into late ?

January

Breeding activity

reaches its peak in mid-?, and most

adult females have been bred by the

end of December.

November

Some female

fawns are capable of reproducing

at ? months of age

and give birth at 14 or

15 months of

age.

7 or 8

Some female

fawns are capable of reproducing

at 7 or 8 months of age

and give birth at 14 or

15 months of

age. Most of

these animals

breed a few

weeks later than

older does, and they

usually produce a

?.

single fawn

The ? of

a doe influence her

reproductive capacity

age and health

Adult females (2½ years and

older) usually produce ?

twins

There is a tendency for younger

females, females in poor condition,

and females in poor-quality habitat to produce more ? offspring.

male

Whitetails eat a wide variety of ? plants

herbaceous and woody

Whitetail food preferences are largely

dependent on plant species occurring in an area and

the time of year. Green leaves, herbaceous plants and

new growth on woody plants are eaten in the spring and

summer. In late summer, fall and early winter, both hard and soft fruits, such as apples, pears and ?are incorporated into their diet

acorns

In winter, evergreen leaves, hard browse and ? are eaten.

dry leaves

The ? of a forest determines the

number of deer it can support.

age

Studies

in Pennsylvania's northern hardwood and

mixed-oak forests show that ?

stands can support the greatest number of

deer,

seedling/sapling

? stands support few or no

deer,

pole-timber

? stands can support a

moderate number of deer

saw-timber

Vegetation that affords protection to an animal

is commonly referred to as ?

cover

Deer are a valuable natural resource, but they must be

closely managed or they'll quickly ? the range

they inhabit

overpopulate

When overpopulation occurs, deer strip their

habitat of its life-supporting qualities, not just for deer, but

for many woodland wildlife species. Crop and other property

damage problems also increase, as well as ?

deer-vehicle

collisions.

Population control can only be facilitated through regulated

harvest of ?

female deer

The Game Commission uses ?to adjust deer populations

hunting

By issuing permits

entitling hunters to take antlerless deer in particular

?, population trends can be affected to

meet management goals.

management units

Deer population, habitat and ? measures are used to determine how many

hunting permits should be issued.

deer human

conflict