Facts and Knowledge:

The white tailed deer is best known for the distinctive patch of white fur beneath its tail.  This "flag" as it is called, is clearly visible when the deer is running..  The white tailed deer, is also known as the Virginia deer, is a slender and graceful animal that lives in fairly open wooded country.  Adults male deer shed their impressive antlers in winter each year and then regrow them before the mating season.

Habits:  The white tailed deer lives alone or in small groups most of the year.  The groups may be one or two females with their young, or they may be bachelor groups of six to seven males.  In severe winters up to 50 deer will gather together for protection from the cold.  The male can be territorial, especially if food is scarce. The deer relies on its well developed senses of hearing, smell, and sight to detect danger from predators.  While it feeds, it sight is often blocked by vegetation, so it raises its head to take a look around every few minutes. When it is alarmed, the deer stares toward the place where the danger seems to be an rotates its ears towards the course of danger..

Breeding: Mating takes place in early spring. When the female is receptive, the male enters a period of sexual excitement known as the RUT. After mating, he leaves the female to fend for her. After a gestation period of six and a half months, the female gives birth to one or two spotted fawns.  Young females usually produce one offspring, but mature females may bear two and even three.  Fawns can stand and walk after birth, but they remain hidden in a cover of vegetation for the first few weeks.  They emerge only when the female returns to feed them.  The female can reach sexual maturity in one year, but males are not fully mature until at least two years of age.

Food & Feeding: The The white tailed deer feeds on grasses and the shoots, leaves, twigs, fruits, and flowers of a number of herbs, shrubs, and trees.  There are seasonal variations in its diet, depending on the location and availability of vicarious plants. When food is scarce in winter, Especially in the northern parts of its rage, the deer may use more energy than it can gain from feeding and loose weight as a result.  Studies of white tailed deer in captivity show that they ca reduce their food intake in winter in order to conserve energy.

Key Facts: Sizes, Weight, breeding, lifestyle, related Species

Height to shoulder: Male, 2 1/2 ft, female, slightly smaller
Weight: Male up to 300 lbs, female, up to 250 lbs

Breeding:
Sexual Maturity: Female , 1 year, males  2 years
Mating session: Early spring.
Gestation: 6 1/2 months
No of pups:  1-3, depending on the age of the female

Lifestyle:
Habit: Solitary or lives in groups of about 6. May gather in herds during severe winters.
Diet: Grasses, leaves, shoots, twigs, fruit, and flowers of a wide variety of plants.
Life span: About 10 years in the wild and 20 in captivity.

Related Species: Related to the mule deer, Odocoileus hemionus.
Distribution: Found in North and Central America and northern areas of South America down to Peru and Brazil. Introduced into parts of New Zealand and Scandinavia.
Conservation: The white tailed deer is threatened by hunting and los of habitat. It is listed as endangered but is responding to management plans in parts of its range.

Features of the White Tailed Deer.
Female: Smaller than male. Does not have antlers.
Fawn: Brown fur with white spots helps to camouflage the young deer.
Antlers: The male has antlers that divide into two branches curving upward and inward.  They are shed in winter and grown again before the mating season.
White tail: When alarmed, the deer leaps in the air, exposing the white markings under its tail this warns others deer of the danger.

Did you know:
The white tailed deer is covered with fur except on part of its muzzle.
Aside from humans, the greatest enemy of the white tailed deer is the puma.
In Asian countries the velvet covering from deer's antlers is believed to be an aphrodisiac.

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