Yearling White-tailed Deer Photos by Bruce Dayton - White-tailed Deer

ORDER: Artiodactyla (Even-toed Ungulates)
FAMILY: Cervidae (Deer)
SPECIES: White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus)

Yearling White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus)
Yearling bucks (males) separate from the sibling group in September as the rut approaches. Yearling bucks tend to disperse from the mother's home range at this time. - The most common social group in white-tails is an adult doe, her fawns and her yearling female offspring. - Male White-tails are called "bucks" and females are called "does" and young White-tails are called "fawns". -
SIZE	An average adult White-tailed buck weighs between 100 and 150 pounds live weight and stands 32 to 34 inches at the shoulder. Size and weight vary greatly in the White-tailed Deer depending on the the region where it is found. Some whitetail deer from the northern United States and Canada may weigh as much as 350 pounds.
DESCRIPTION	The white-tail was so named because the underside of its tail is covered with white hair and is displayed (Flag) when the deer is running. The belly, throat, areas around the eyes and insides of the ears are white all year long. Hair color is alike in both sexes. The summer coat consists of short, thin hairs that are reddish-brown in color and the the heavy winter coat is longer, grayish brown hairs over a short wooly undercoat. Sexual Dimorphism: Male are about 20% larger than the female. Males grow and shed a set of antlers each year.
BEHAVIOR	White-tail deer are generally considered solitary animals. They are the most nervous and shy of the deer family. The most common sounds heard are whistles or snorts of disturbed White-tails. They are extremely agile and are great runners (up to 30 MPH), swimmers and jumpers. White-tails generally live in a range of only about one square mile, although linear ranges can be much longer. Buck deer do not associate with the females except during the breeding season (the rut), when they actively seek out does for breeding. White-tails communicate with vocalizations and scents. They have an unusual social grouping.
RANGE	Scientists have identified 30 subspecies of whitetails in Central and North America. Whitetails occur from southern Canada south through the lower 48 States and Mexico to Panama.
PREDATORS	The main predator of adult deer is man. Many are taken as game during hunting season, while thousands more are killed by motor vehicles each year. Sometimes roving wild dog packs (even domesticated dogs in packs) will kill deer. More natural predators are the coyote, bobcat and cougar.
HABITAT	White-tailed deer can adapt and survive in a wide variety of terrestrial habitats from the big woods of the northeast to the swamps of Florida. Most woodland deer prefer a habitat of mixed woods, open areas and dense brush thickets to provide food and help conceal them from predators.
DIET	The White-tails are herbivores. Some foods white-tails may like to eat includes young leaves and stems, grass, berries, bark and nuts. In agriculture areas, they will eat crops such as corn and alfalfa.

White-tailed Deer
Yearlings

Siblings tend to remain together throughout most of the summer.

Yearling does (females) remain in the mother's home range (usually less the a square mile) and generally rejoin their mother and her new fawns between September and October. Yearling does average about 120 pounds.

Yearling bucks (males) separate from the sibling group in September as the rut approaches. Yearling bucks tend to disperse from the mother's home range at this time. Yearling males home range is much larger than a female and will move many miles. Yearling bucks weigh an average about 135 pounds.

Please email with any ideas or comments concerning this web page.

The images on this web page are copyrighted © 2003 - 2007 by Bruce Dayton. I want to share my photos to promote conservation and to help people identify and learn about the birds and other creatures that live with us on the North American continent. Please do not use any of my work in any non-profit or for-profit project without first getting written permission from me. You can ask for permission by emailing me at webmaster@wildlifeofnorthamerica.info. All reproductions must bear an appropriate credit.




CLICK ON PICTURES FOR ENLARGED IMAGE

White-tailed Deer - Yearling

Cincinnatus Township Cortland County, New York


WtDrY-304_006271	WtDrY-304_006276

Lansing Township Tompkins County, New York	Webb Township Herkimer County, New York


WtDrY-304_006911	WtDrY-304_56276