White-tailed deer the World’s largest deer! By : Hailey Turner #22 4H

Appearance The white-tailed deer is brown or tan in the summer and is grayish brown in the winter. The reason why this animal is called a white-tailed deer is because they have white on the underside of their tail. They also have white on their throat, eyes, nose, and stomach. There is a way to tell whether a white-tailed deer is a female or a male. The males have antlers while the females don’t. The males weigh between 150 pounds and 300 pounds. The females weigh between 90 pounds and 200 pounds. The white-tailed deer has an average height of 3.5 feet.

Habitat A white-tailed deer has many places where it can be found. A white- tailed deer can be found in Southern Canada, most of The United States except for Southwest, Mexico, and Alaska. They also live in wooded areas. This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA

Food A white-tailed deer is a herbivore or plant eater. The white-tailed deer eats in the early mornings and in the late afternoon. It will eat green plants in the spring and summer, nuts in the fall, and in winter it will eat twigs and buds of woody plants. The white-tailed deer is ruminant or has four chambers for digesting food. It consumes or gets about 5 to 9 pounds of food a day.

Enemies and defenses White-tailed deer predators are large. Some of the predators a white-tailed deer has are humans, gray wolves, mountain lions, coyotes, bears, and jaguars. Riverside thickets offer protection to white-tailed deer. The white tail of a white-tailed deer will fly up to alert other deer to hide from danger. A white-tailed deer is an important prey to its predators. So, when a white-tailed deer is not protecting themselves they have to find somewhere to hide fast when a predator is close by.

Interesting facts The digestive system that a white- tailed deer has lets it eat things that other animals can’t eat. White-tailed deer are the worlds largest deer!! All white-tailed deer are warm blooded. White-tailed deer are very good runners and can run up to the speed of 30 miles per hour!! White-tailed deer are great at jumping. They are also amazing swimmers!!!

Sources http://www.nhptv.org/natureworks/whitetaileddeer.htm http://www.oregonwild.org/ http://www.photosforclass.com/search/photos%20for%20class http://www.biokids.umich.edu/critters/Odocoileus_virginianus/