White-tailed Deer

The white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) is also known as the Virginia deer, or simply the whitetail. It gets its' name from the fact that the underside of its tail is covered with white hair, and when it runs it often holds its tail erect so that the white undersurface is visible.

Size: The average adult male buck weighs about 140 pounds and stands 32-34 inches at the shoulder.

Life Span: The average lifespan of the white-tailed deer in captivity is 6 to 14 years.

Color: Their coat is pewter-grey in winter, increasingly russet red as summer progresses.

Continent: North America, Central America, South America, It has also been introduced to Australia and some countries in Europe

Range: United States, Mexico, Canada, Columbia, Venezuela, Bolivia, Peru, New Zealand, Finland, Czech Republic

Habitat: White-tailed deer can adapt to a variety of habitats including wooded forest, open prairie, savanna woodlands, and sage communities.

Food: In the wild, deer eat leaves, grass, buds, berries, bark, wild grapes, apples and acorns. At the zoo they are fed alfalfa, clover and timothy hay, processed grains.

Reproduction: The mating season begins in September and last into late January. Gestation is 6.5 to 7 months. Males and females will not generally associate again until the autumn rutting season. In May and June, usually a single fawn is born, spotted and mottled to blend in with the shadows beneath the trees.

Fun Facts: Only bucks have antlers. Rack development is dependent on seasonal light levels and growth begins in late winter/early spring as tiny fuzz-covered buds. As summer deepens, a lush skin called velvet thickens along the antlers` branches protecting the bone as it grows. By autumn, early sunsets cause testosterone to rise in the male deer`s body which signals velvet deterioration. As the luxuriant skin dies, it dries and becomes extremely itchy. This causes bucks to go on a scratching rampage, running the antler along any available surface to relieve the agony of itching. By rutting season the antler is then nicely honed for battles with other males over breeding rights.

Conservation: Deer are overabundant in much of their range due to their adaptability to humans and urban and suburban construction, and the lack of predators. Thousands of white-tailed deer starve to death during Pennsylvania`s winters because their population has exceeded the land`s carrying capacity.