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White-tailed Deer
Odocoileus virginianus
46.1285, -93.7539
Field Notes
Description:
White-tailed deer vary in size across their range with the smallest subspecies living in southern Florida and ranging to animals that on the average are twice that size in the northern part of their range. Average sized deer in Minnesota weigh 180 lbs. or more. They are reddish brown in the summer and tend toward gray/brown in the winter. Males are larger than females and have antlers that are shed and regrown annually.
Habitat:
White-tailed deer have a wide range across much of the US and Canada, in a number of different habitats. They tend to avoid large open areas and are most often found in brushy forests and along tree-lined rivers in grasslands.
Notes:
I was sitting with my back up against a tree in an area where I knew white-tails fed when this doe and fawn showed up. I made sure they knew I was there by slowly shifting my position and so I wouldn't suddenly be a surprise to them. Over the course of the next hour they searched for acorns in the fallen leaves.
On several occasions the doe would throw up her head and peer intently behind me for a few seconds. She would then walk over to within 20 feet of me and start feeding again. I suspected a buck was in the area as the rut was underway, but didn't want to shift my position to look behind me. Eventually a nice buck (second photo) eventually worked his way around to where I could see him. He was quite excited by the doe, but didn't want to approach her with me being that close.
I suspect that she was using me to keep the buck at bay as she wasn't ready to breed. That suspicion was reinforced later in the day when another doe did exactly the same thing. Fascinating!
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