White-tailed Deer

Caught in a downpour, this deer appeared to be attempting to flash it's namesake white tail, but only managed a floppy sort of gesture. Rain didn't keep these deer, in their reddish summer coats, from grazing. The deer we saw in Cades Cove were much larger than the deer I have seen in NW Ga. In fact, my first instinct was to get really excited and think we had seen some of the elk that have been re-introduced at GSMP, but no - these were just big, fat, healthy white-tailed deer!