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White-tailed Deer
Odocoileus virginianus
33.8418, -83.7966
Field Notes
Description:
Medium sized deer. Also known as virginia deer. Tawny coloring above with white underparts and under tail. White tail is flashed when alarmed. The deer are deep orange tan in the summer and pale tan in the winter. Think complementary coloring to their surroundings. Coloring demonstrates the way their most prevalent predators, canines, see. The white underbelly is to reflect light into their own shadow, softening it, making it harder for predators to see them, in the woods. These deer tend to stay in the shadows as much as possible.
Habitat:
Moist woodland. Heavily wooded hill, descending down to the river and swamps.
Notes:
I see this doe nearly everyday. So much so that we have named her "Alcova," after the Alcovy river. She usually has her fawns close to our house, as it is a haven from the coyotes that hunt in the forests on both sides of the river. The coyotes stay far away from our land as they are very wary of our four black and tan coonhounds. The hounds are not allowed to bother the deer, which they don't and, interestingly, the deer know this and often stay inside this "coyote free" zone.
Last spring Alcova gave birth to two fawns, just as she did the previous year, just below our house. Yesterday, I saw all five deer, (Alcova and both sets of now grown fawns) grazing in the same area. Alcova is getting close to giving birth to this year's fawns and is hanging around.
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