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White-Tailed Deer
Odocoileus virginianus
46.0123, -81.4017
Field Notes
Description:
Male: 68 to 141 kg (Buck)
Female: 41 to 96 kg (Doe)
Males being to grow antlers in late spring, covered in velvet. A buck's inside spread can be anywhere from 8-64 cm. Bucks shed their antlers when all the females have bred, from late Decemeber to February.
This deer is tan or reddish-brown in the summer and grayish-brown in the winter, with a white tail and buttocks.
Habitat:
Abundant food makes almost any forested or bushy area suitable for white-tailed deer during the summer, but as snow deepens the deer concentrate in "deer yards," or areas that provide food and shelter from storms and deep snow. Sometimes the move from summer to winter range requires travelling many kilometres.
Notes:
Bounding, leaping and running.. this mammal is fast! It can reach speeds of up to 58 kilometres per hour.
Like a cow, the white-tailed deer’s stomach has four compartments. This allows food to be processed more efficiently and means that the deer can feed on things that other mammals cannot process. The deer captured in these photos was eating grass and the leaves of young maple trees.
Fawns are spotted with brown tails and a white underside. When sensing danger, the deer raises its tail – this is called ‘flagging.’ Showing this large white patch on the underside of the tail signals an alarm to other deer and helps a fawn follow its mother to safety.
The White-Tailed Deer can be seen all over Killarney Provincial Park and the surrounding area. Take care when driving especially at dusk!
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