White-Tailed Deer

[Kya Swiftpaw]

White-Tailed Deer



Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Family: Cervidae
Genus: Odocoileinae



Size:
6 to 7.75 ft (1.8 to 2.4 m)

Weight:
110 to 300 lbs (50 to 136 kg)

Group name:
Herd

Did you know?
"White-tailed” refers to the white underside of the deer’s tail, which it displays and wags when it senses danger.
White-tailed deer, the smallest members of the North American deer family, are found from southern Canada to South America. In the heat of summer they typically inhabit fields and meadows using clumps of broad-leaved and coniferous forests for shade. During the winter they generally keep to forests, preferring coniferous stands that provide shelter from the harsh elements.

Breeding

Adult white-tails have reddish-brown coats in summer which fade to a duller grayish-brown in winter. Male deer, called bucks, are easily recognizable in the summer and fall by their prominent set of antlers, which are grown annually and fall off in the winter. Only the bucks grow antlers, which bear a number of tines, or sharp points. During the mating season, also called the rut, bucks fight over territory by using their antlers in sparring matches.

Female deer, called does, give birth to one to three young at a time, usually in May or June and after a gestation period of seven months. Young deer, called fawns, wear a reddish-brown coat with white spots that helps them blend in with the forest.

Diet and Behavior

White-tailed deer are herbivores, leisurely grazing on most available plant foods. Their stomachs allow them to digest a varied diet, including leaves, twigs, fruits and nuts, grass, corn, alfalfa, and even lichens and other fungi. Occasionally venturing out in the daylight hours, white-tailed deer are primarily nocturnal or crepuscular, browsing mainly at dawn and dusk.

In the wild, white-tails, particularly the young, are preyed upon by bobcats, mountain lions, and coyotes. They use speed and agility to outrun predators, sprinting up to 30 miles (48 kilometers) per hour and leaping as high as 10 feet (3 meters) and as far as 30 feet (9 meters) in a single bound.

Although previously depleted by unrestricted hunting in the United States, strict game-management measures have helped restore the white-tailed deer population.

Antlers




Introduction

Antlers are bone formations that develop from the pedicle on the frontal bone of the skull of male deer.

Pedicles become visible as buttons on males at about 4 to 5 months of age.

Deer grow and shed antlers every year, requiring large amounts of nutrients and energy. Typically, only male deer grow antlers. Female deer have been documented to grow antlers when experiencing issues with regulation of the hormone testosterone, which happens very rarely. Caribou are the only deer in which females regularly grow antlers. The size and formation of antlers vary widely among deer in general. Antler growth depends on an individual deer’s access to quality nutrition, age and genetics. However, factors such as date of birth and condition of the mother can affect antler development.


Purpose of antlers

Several theories attempt to explain the evolutionary purpose of antlers among some male members of the deer family. Four of these theories are described below.

Signal of male quality
Because they are grown mainly by male deer, antlers are thought to serve as a visual cue signaling health and genetic quality to female deer. If this were true, females could determine the quality of potential mates by evaluating their antlers. Recent research supports this particular theory. However, variation in antler quality among individuals may not be a good predictor of mating success.

Weapon used to fight other males
During the breeding season, male deer use their antlers to fight and establish dominance over other male deer. Male deer will often lock antlers and push one another to determine which individual is stronger, therefore establishing a dominance hierarchy between individual animals.

Male white-tailed deer commonly fight with other males to determine strength. Male white-tailed deer commonly establish dominance in the breeding season by fighting with other males to determine strength.


Display dominance
The size of antlers on deer has been thought to display age-related dominance between males without the males actually having to fight. If this were so, a dominance hierarchy could be established within the male segment of the herd without the risk of serious injury or death. However, current research does not substantiate antler size correlating with dominance between individual white-tailed deer.

Defense against predators
Some researchers have suggested that deer may use antlers to defend themselves against predators, as antlers can inflict severe injury. Although this theory may be true, it would mean that females are always defenseless and that males are defenseless once their antlers have shed and during the antler growing phase.

How antlers grow



Deer grow and shed antlers annually. Males typically begin growing a new set of antlers in late spring. Growth starts at the pedicle, which is the antler growing base attached to the skull. Antler growth is regulated by hormones, which are controlled by photoperiod (day length). The antler growth cycle coincides with the breeding season, so that males have hardened antlers for fighting other males, subsequently establishing dominance and breeding privileges.

Growing day length corresponds to a reduction in melatonin production, which initiates the hormone cycles responsible for antler growth. Throughout late spring and summer, antlers are equipped with a very rich blood supply and are covered with a hairlike membrane commonly known as velvet. While “in velvet,” antlers are particularly vulnerable to injury, and cuts or bruises suffered at this time often result in deformed antlers.

Growing antlers are high in water and low in dry matter content. The composition of the dry matter portion during this stage is 80 percent protein and 20 percent ash (primarily calcium and phosphorus). By August, growth slows and the antlers begin to mineralize, or harden. In late August or early September, growth is completed and blood ceases to flow to the antlers. This process initiates drying of the velvet, which is then sloughed or rubbed off, resulting in polished, hard antlers during the breeding season. The velvet shedding occurs rapidly, usually in less than 24 hours. The velvet will fall off on its own, but the process is accelerated by rubbing antlers on small woody shrubs or even tall grass. Healthy males maintain their hardened antlers throughout the breeding season.

The composition of antlers change, as hardened antlers are high in dry matter and low in water content. Dry matter content of hardened antlers is composed of about 60 percent ash and 40 percent protein. After the breeding season, cells start to de-mineralize the bone between the pedicle and antler, causing the antler’s connection with the skull to weaken and the antler to fall off. Timing of antler-drop may vary, but in an average season, some males shed their antlers in late December and most have shed them by early March. Once a deer sheds its antlers, new growth starts immediately, though visible antler growth is sometimes not apparent for several weeks. Shed antlers are often difficult to find in the woods because they have a high protein content and an abundance of calcium phosphate and are quickly consumed by rodents.

Antlers can be used as individual bucks establish dominance. White-tailed deer antler growth cycle coincides with the breeding season so antlers can be used as individual bucks establish dominance.

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