White Tailed Deer Research Paper

White-Tailed Deer

Odocoileus virginianus, is the scientific name of the white-tailed deer ("Species Description: White-tailed Deer"). White-tailed deer are reddish brown in the summer and grayish brown in the winter. They get their name from the white strip of fur they have from the top of their stomachs to the tip of their tails. White-tailed deer can get up to about four to six feet in length. According to Nature Works, "males weigh between 150 and 300 pounds and females weigh between 90 and 200 pounds." The whitetails in the northern part of North America are normally larger than the ones in the southern part. The uniqueness of the white-tailed deer is illustrated through its life cycle, characteristics, habitat, and diet.

To begin, the average life cycle of a deer is about two to five years.

According to The Biology of a Whitetail Deer, "The whitetail deer reach sexual maturity around 12 months of age". Most deer are born during May and June which is six to seven months after mating season ("White-Tailed Deer" National Geographic). Whitetail deer start mating around eighteen months of age. The mating season may also be known as the rut. According to the Nature Mapping Program, "antlers do not serve as weapons against predators, but are used during the mating season, when the males fight to breed with females." When a buck mates with a doe he only stays with her for twenty-four to forty-eight hours. Then the buck will find another doe to breed with during the same rut season ("Deer Biology"). Therefore, deer are polygamous creatures since they have more than two partners. A doe or female deer can give birth to one to three young at one time ("White-Tailed Deer" National Geographic). A fawn or baby deer is born with white spots to help him or her blend in with his or her surroundings. Nature Works states, "female fawns may stay with their mother for two years, but males usually leave after a year". To protect her young from harm, the doe will hide the fawn while she goes to find food. Furthermore, if she has more than one fawn, she hides them all in separate places ("White-tailed Deer" Nature Works).
Next, white-tailed deer have many distinct characteristics..

They are an extremely adept species with excellent eyesight, hearing, and agility. According to Island Creek Ecology, "Deer can leap over eight feet high and thirty feet long". Nature Works states, "They can run at speeds of up to 30 miles an hour". Around February, bucks shed their antlers. During the spring, they grow new ones covered in velvet, but then lose the velvet in August (“White-tailed Deer” Island Creek Ecology). According to The Biology of a Whitetail Deer, “The velvet supplies blood to the growing antlers to protect and feed them”. A male deer’s antlers come in when they are one year old. For example, whitetail deer with only a couple of antlers are called spikes. The Biology of a Whitetail Deer states, “in a whitetail buck the antlers typically reach optimal development around 5 to 6 years of age”. Bucks mark their territory by rubbing their antlers against trees. Another characteristic of white-tailed deer is they sleep during the day only for a few hours. Deer make their bed with leaves in the shape of an oval. Also, white-tailed deer will snort or stick their tail up when they are

alarmed.
In addition to the life cycle and characteristics of white-tailed deer, their habitat can vary. The white-tailed deer can be found in many parts of North America and few parts of South America. According to Natural Resource Enterprises, this species "prefers an interspersed habitat, including meadows, forested woodlots, brushy areas and croplands". Most whitetail deer live in the same small one square mile area their whole life. Similar, they live in small groups during the year. For example, one type of group is made up of does and fawns. The other group is made up of three to five bucks (“White-tailed Deer” Island Creek Ecology). Coyotes are sometimes a predator of white-tailed deer, but the main ones are dogs and humans. Nature Works states, "because there are not many natural predators, deer populations can sometimes grow too large for their environment". There are some diseases like roundworms that can harm or kill deer (“White-tailed Deer” Nature Works). Also, hunting helps control the deer population problem.
Finally, the diet of white-tailed deer is mainly plants; they are herbivores (“White-tailed Deer” Island Creek Ecology). According to Nature Works, "the white-tailed deer is a ruminant and its stomach has four chambers for digesting food". For example, they can eat and digest many things that other animals cannot. They regurgitate their food and re-chew it to help with their digestion. The diet of whitetail deer can change because of habitat (“Deer Biology”). Likewise, they have a different diet during the winter than they do in the summer. During the fall and winter, deer feed on acorns, evergreen, and woody stems. Then, during the spring and summer, they feed on grass, vines, and fruit ("Species Description: White-tailed Deer"). National Geographic states, "occasionally venturing out in the daylight hours, white-tailed deer are primarily nocturnal or crepuscular, browsing mainly at dawn and dusk". By around the age of ten, whitetail deer's teeth will wear out and they are no longer able to eat ("Deer Biology").
In conclusion, there are many reasons why the white-tailed deer are such unique animals. They are one of the few animals that can stand up and walk at birth. The white-tailed deer can transmit diseases to humans through a tick such as Lyme disease (“White-tailed Deer” Nature Works). The white-tailed deer are the smallest type of deer in the United States. Also, they are the most popular game animal in North America ("Nature Mapping Animal Facts"). In recent years, people are building houses and moving into deer habitat, which is why an increased number of deer are hit by cars and found lying on the side of the road.