Deer FactsAll About the Whitetail DeerThe Whitetail is a fascinating creature. Here are some interesting deer facts you may enjoy!
The Whitetail deer is the most plentiful and widespread of the deer species. They can be found throughout most of southern Canada, Mexico, and most of the United States. They are especially abundant east of the Rocky Mountains. The males, which are call bucks, weigh between 130 and 220 pounds, although some have been weighed in at a much higher weight than this. The female is called a doe, and they usually weigh between 90 and 200 pounds. Their length is between 60 and 90 inches long and their height is between 35 and 40 inches at the shoulder. They are a reddish brown color in the summer, but in the winter, their coats turn more grayish. Sometimes a piebald, which resembles a paint pony, or even an albino deer can be seen, but these are very rare.The Whitetail deer is characteristically known by its white tail, which can be easily seen as they bound off, raising it like a flag, to warn the others of possible danger. Whitetails can ran as fast as 35 to 40 miles per hour and can leap an 8 foot fence. They are ruminants, which means they have a 4 chambered stomach which enables them to quickly eat their food, then later regurgitate it and chew it again. This is what is commonly known as chewing their cud.
The females give birth to their young after a 7 month gestation period and generally have twins, sometimes triplets. Fawns develop rapidly and soon are following their mother around everywhere she goes.They eat a wide variety of items, including fruits, acorns, leaves, grasses, tree bark, and corn. They eat 8 to 12 pounds of food daily, depending upon their size. They are not very vocal mammals, but they do make various sounds, up to about a dozen different ones. Bleating, snorts, and grunts are the most commonly heard sound. Their life span is very variable due to hunting. The maximum is 15 to 20 years, but this is extremely rare. Usually 7 to 10 years is a basic average for their life span in the wild.
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