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White tailed deer

Kristina

Physical Description: White tailed deer are tan or brown in the summer, and grayish brown in the winter. They have white on their necks, around their eyes, nose, on it’s stomach, and on the underside of their tail.  Males have antlers and weigh from 150 to 300 pounds. Females weigh between 90 and 200 pounds.

Diet and Feeding Habits: The white tailed deer are herbivores.  They feed early in the morning hours and in the late afternoon.  A deers diet changes depending on it’s habitat, and the season.  In the spring and summer they eat green plants. In the fall they eat corn, acorns, other nuts.  In the winter they eat the buds and twigs from woody plants.

Reproduction: White tailed deer mate in November in the northern part of their range, then in January, and February in the southern parts.  The female usually has between one to three fawns about six months after mating.  The mother leaves her fawns hidden for hours at a time while she feeds.  If the mother has more then one fawn  she hides them in separate places.  Baby deer can walk at birth, and forage for food a couple days after.
 

Habitat: White tailed deer live in wooded areas.  Humans and deer beginning to live closer and closer together.  Deer are beginning to over populate in some areas which can sometimes be a problem.  Gray wolves and mountain lions used to be predators of white tailed deer and keep their population under control, but because of hunting and human development there are not many left which causes white tailed deer to over populate.
 

Role in the Ecosystem: White tailed deer are herbivores and prey for lynx, foxes, hunters, coyotes, wolves, bears, mountain lions, tigers, leopards, and jaguars.  White tailed deer can greatly influence the composition of plant communities through their grazing.  During severe winters white tailed deer may kill large numbers of trees.

Bibliography:
http://www.crockerfarm.org/ac/rm02/animals/JennaDeer.htm

http://www.nhptv.org/Natureworks/whitetaileddeer.htm

http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Odocoileus_virginianus.html

http://www.uga.edu/srel/deerfacts.htm

World book 2001