Download white-tailed deer - managed species

WHITE-TAILED DEER - MANAGED SPECIES
(Odocoileus virginianus)
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
The white-tailed deer is named for its most distinctive feature, the large
white tail or "flag" that is often all you see as the animal bounds away
through the forest. The color of the deer's
upper body and sides changes with the
season, from a reddish-brown in summer to
grey-brown in winter. Their belly and the
underside of the tail are completely white, with
a white patch on the throat. White-tails shed
their fur twice a year; the heavy winter coat
gives way to a lighter one in spring which is
replaced again in early fall. A fawn's coat is
similar to the adult's, except the neck, flanks,
and back are covered with white spots that
gradually disappear when the deer is three to
four months old. Fawns are born in late spring
and summer and by early November a male
fawn weighs about 85 pounds and a female
about 80 pounds. Yearling bucks average 150 pounds, while does of the
same age average about 20 percent less, or about 120 pounds. Mature
white-tailed deer are 3-31/2 feet tall at the shoulder and weigh 100-250
pounds.
White Tail Flag
White-tailed deer possess several scent glands that are used to deposit
scent on tree branches, vegation, and the ground. These “scents” serve
for intraspecies communication during breeding season or the “rut”, to
mark territory in the case of breeding bucks, and as distress signals to
other deer. The four major glands are the pre-orbital below the eyes,
forehead, tarsal, and metatarsal glands. The metatarsal glands are on the
outside of each hind leg, and a larger tarsal gland are on the inside of
each hind leg at the hock. Scent from
these glands is deposited on
vegetation as the deer walk through the
woods. Interdigital glands are located
between the two parts of the hoof on all
four feet, and transfers scent to the
ground when the deer stomps its feet
during displays of dominance or
warning of danger.
Tarsal Scent Gland
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WHITE-TAILED DEER - MANAGED SPECIES
(Odocoileus virginianus)
Only male deer have antlers. Antler size is determined by the individual’s
genetics, the availability of high quality
food, and the deer's age. Antlers begin
to grow in March or April and continue
through August or September. At the
peak of development, antlers may grow
as much as one-half inch per day. While
developing, the antlers are covered with
a soft furry skin called "velvet." As this
soft skin dries in the fall, the bucks rub
their antlers against trees and shrubs to
remove the velvet. Bucks shed their
Antlered Deer - Buck
antlers after the breeding season ends in
late January and develop new sets of antlers the following season. Each
successive "rack" of antlers will grow larger than the previous set,
provided nutrition is adequate. Large antlers are an important factor in
courtship and breeding. Antlers are used as a visual display of dominance
and as weapons during competition between adult bucks.
REPRODUCTION
White-tailed deer usually become sexually mature during their second
year, but females on agricultural ranges may breed during their first fall.
The breeding season occurs from late October to December when
hormonal changes triggered by the shorter daylight photoperiod cause
females to leave groups of related individuals and become receptive for
breeding. During the breeding season, or "rut", bucks establish breeding
territories which they defend from other males. Bucks mark their territories
with scrapes (pawed up areas of
ground on which they uninate) and
rubs (areas on trees where the bark
has been removed by antler
rubbing). Bucks will mate with as
many does as possible within their
territory, often aggressively using
their antlers and hooves to challenge
and drive off other bucks.
Buck Rub
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WHITE-TAILED DEER - MANAGED SPECIES
(Odocoileus virginianus)
Following a gestation period of approximately 200 days, does seek a
secluded location to give birth, often near their own birthplace. A doe may
Produce from one to three fawns
depending on her age, nutritional
condition, and severity of winter. Fawns
weigh 4-8 pounds at birth and have a
reddish-brown coat with many lightspots. They move very little the first few
weeks, relying on their natural
camouflage and nearly scentless
condition to alert predators of their
White-tailed Deer Fawn
presence. During this time the doe returns frequently to nurse and groom
her fawns. While waiting for the mother to return, fawns lay flat on the
ground with their necks outstretched, well camouflaged against the forest
floor. Fawns withhold their feces and urine until the mother arrives, at
which point she licks the fawn to induce defecation and urination, and
ingests whatever the fawn voids to deny predators any indication of the
fawn’s presence. White-tailed deer have good eyesight and acute hearing,
but depend mainly on their sense of smell, especially to detect danger.
Fawns are weaned by 10 weeks with male fawns leaving their mothers
after one year, while female fawns may remain with the doe for two years.
The fawn’s spotted coat is replaced by their adult coloration in 4-5 months.
Deer attain their maximum size in 3-5 years.
DISTRIBUTION AND ABUNDANCE
The white-tailed deer is the most abundant and most widely distributed big
game animal in North America. Recent estimates of their numbers
suggest up to 30 million white-tail deer occupy North America.
Unregulated hunting once decimated their populations nearly to extinction
in many areas. However, in recent decades ongoing development of
suburban areas improved the habitat for
white-tailed deer, allowing their
populations to recover in most regions.
In some parts of their range
conservation practices have proved so
successful that white-tailed deer
populations far exceed their carrying
capacity and they are considered a
nuisance and a danger to vehicular
Deer Browse Line
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WHITE-TAILED DEER - MANAGED SPECIES
(Odocoileus virginianus)
traffic on roads and highways. The lack of natural predators which
normally cull young, sick or infirm specimens has contributed to locally
over abundant populations. Overpopulations of white-tail deer also pose
threats to woodlands by browsing on new growth and inhibiting natural
forest succession. Disease and parasites are also more easily transmitted
when deer densities become high (e.g., deer ticks and lyme disease)
Deer feed on a variety of mast crops such as hickory nuts and acorns,
succulent fruit, herbs, grass, twigs, leaves of woody plants and fungi
throughout the year. In fall and winter,
the high priority deer foods are
evergreen browse, hard and soft mast
crops, herbaceous vegetation and
fungi. Adult deer require 6 to 8 pounds
of food per 100 pounds of body mass
daily. Deer reproductive rates and
survival during adverse winter
conditions depend on the relative body
fat stored during summer and fall
Deer Food - Hard Mast Crop
feeding. The abundance and quality of
summer-fall foods largely govern the reproductive condition of deer.
Nutrition, age and genetics govern antler development. Agricultural crops
constitute from 40 to more than 50 percent of the white-tail’s year round
diet in some areas. Although deer can obviously subsist entirely on native
foods, they apparently have a preference for farm crops. This preference
constitutes the biggest deer management problem in agricultural areas,
balancing deer numbers so as to satisfy both hunter demand and
landowner tolerance.
HABITS AND HABITAT
Deer are crepuscular, being most active in early morning and evening.
White-tailed deer are extremely agile and may bound at speeds of up to
30 miles per hour through tangled terrain in a forest. White-tailed deer are
also good swimmers and often enter large streams and lakes to escape
predators or insects or to visit islands.
The home range of the white-tailed deer is usually less than one mile.
Males generally have larger ranges that expand during the rut. Forested
areas with brushy stands of young vegetation and scattered openings, or
agricultural areas with a combination of crop fields, woodlands and
wetlands characterize good deer habitat. Areas that contain early
succession vegetation are especially good habitats for deer.
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WHITE-TAILED DEER - MANAGED SPECIES
(Odocoileus virginianus)
Territorial behavior in deer is seasonal. Bucks become quite territorial
during the breeding season. Males begin rutting as early as September,
and at this time they become entirely preoccupied with locating does for
mating. They do not guard harems, as with elk, rather they mark and
defend a geographical territory, and challenge other males for
opportunities to mate with females within their territories. During the spring
fawning season does are generally intolerant of other females except
within groups of related individuals.
White-tailed deer are generally considered solitary, especially in summer.
The basic social unit is a female and her fawns, although does have been
observed to graze together in large groups. Females generally follow their
mothers for about two years, while males leave the group within the first
year. Bucks may form transient “bachelor” groups of 2-4 males in the
summer, but these disband prior to the mating season. Deer are most
social in winter when they often form groups in areas that offer protection
from severe weather known as “deeryards”. They routinely use the same
pathways or trails when foraging, but they will not bed down during the
day in previously used areas.
WHITE-TAILED DEER AND FOREST MANAGEMENT
The BCC-IWLA’s West Woods were subjected to high-grade timber
harvests in the past which removed the oldest large and most valuable
trees. Although such harvests are a poor method of forest management in
terms of future timber sales, they do
benefit wildlife like the white-tailed
deer. When the dominant
hardwoods are removed, openings
in the forest canopy are created
allowing sunlight to reach the forest
floor providing energy for the growth
of brush, shrubs and mast crop
producing trees such as oaks.
Because the white-tailed deer is a
browser and grazer, it prospers in
Early Succession Vegetation
this lush early succession vegetation. Since acquiring the West Woods
property, B-CC IWLA members have attempted to improve the quality of
the habitat for deer by managing the open areas created by the previous
logging operations, failed development attempts, and an obsolete power
line right-of-way. These areas now open to the sunlight became thick with
black berry bushes and multiflora rose, creates habitat diversity and edge
effect.
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WHITE-TAILED DEER - MANAGED SPECIES
(Odocoileus virginianus)
In contrast, the habitat of the North East Woods is being altered naturally
by early successional tree species of red cedar and Virginia pine dying
and eventually falling to the forest
floor as they reach the end of their
life cycle. The newly created forest
opening allow sunlight to reach the
young oak and hickory seedlings,
thus ensuring their future as the
dominant species of this woodland.
Within the North East Woods, the
forces of habitat change are wind,
rain, snow, and time. These dense
Early Successional Red Cedar Dying
woods with seasonal blow-downs of
aging trees, while not providing
abundant food, do provide deer with cover for bedding down at night and
shelter from harsh winter weather. This is evidenced by the multitudes of
deer trails that criss-cross the Northeast Woods habitat and lead to more
productive agricultural fields and hardwood forests that yield abundant
seasonal mast crop food resources.
MANAGEMENT ISSUES
Although white-tails can subsist entirely on native foods, they demonstrate a
preference for farm crops, which in some areas constitutes a significant
management problem for agriculture. The adaptation of white-tailed to
agricultural and surburban areas creates the need for balancing deer densities to
maintain healthy deer populations that satisfy both hunter demand, yet minimize
agricultural damage. Planned harvests of
deer in forested and agricultural areas seek
to prevent the herd from approaching or
exceeding carrying capacity. In these areas,
hunting replaces the natural mortality that
normally result from malnutrition, disease and
predation. In urban areas deer-vehicle
collisions are the primary mortality factor for
the deer, and a substantial economic and
safety problem for humans.
Farm Crops / Deer Food
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WHITE-TAILED DEER - MANAGED SPECIES
(Odocoileus virginianus)
WHITE-TAILED DEER SIGN
The BCC-IWLA woodlands and forests show an abundance of deer sign
(physical evidence of white-tailed deer). Here are a few things to look for:
Tracks - Deer tracks are heart-shaped. The white-tailed deer track is
made by its hooves. The pointed end of the track points to where the deer
was going. Tracks provide and indication of the frequency of deer use of a
particular area and might also give some idea of the deer's size.
Generally, the tracks of bucks and does are the same.
Deer travel in narrow paths called
trails. Trails usually connect where the
deer eats and where it rests. Basically
a deer trail is a like any other path, a
small area worn from repeated use.
Deer Trails
White-tailed deer have places on the ground
where they lay down to rest; these areas are
called deer beds. Deer beds are usually
surrounded by plants or shrubs that provide
protection from rain or snow. Generally deer
beds are 3-4 feet long and 1 1/2 feet wide.
Deer Beds
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WHITE-TAILED DEER - MANAGED SPECIES
(Odocoileus virginianus)
Deer do not have upper teeth in the front
of their mouths. They use their back
teeth to twist off and chew twigs. The
fraying and tearing at the ends of twigs
provide a clear indication that deer are
feeding in the area.
Vegetation Torn By Deer Feeding
Bucks mark their territory by removing bark from
trees with their antlers. This is called a "buck rub."
Rubs are caused by bucks rubbing the velvet from
their antlers and later in the fall, as the rut
approaches, fresh sign of this antler work may
appear on larger, harder trees, as restless bucks
practice their fighting skills needed to defend their
breeding territory. Look for buck rubs on trees from
September to November. Buck rubs are usually one
to two feet high off the ground.
Buck Rubs
Bucks paw and scrape the leaves and
grass away from the ground to expose a
patch of bare earth from one to three feet
in diameter. In doing so, a buck applies
his scent from the scent glands on his
feet in the scrape, and will urinate in the
scrape to add additional scent or
pheromones to mark the location. This
serves as a signal to does that he is in
Buck Scrapes
the area and available for mating, and it
warns other bucks that this is his territory and that if they enter they risk a
challenge or even a fight. Look for scrapes during the rut from October to
December.
White-tailed deer droppings look like a pile of small
black-brown marbles. The scat or droppings of a
rabbit are similar but only about half the size of whitetailed deer droppings.
Deer Droppings
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