White Tailed Deer - Sierra Club BC
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White Tailed Deer

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White Tailed Deer

Odocoileus virginianus 

Appearance

White-tailed deer are about two metres long and one metre tall. In the summer, their coat is reddish-brown, and by the winter, they appear more greyish-brown with a white belly, legs, and throat, and a distinct white underside to their tail. The males can weigh up to 102 kilograms, and the females are no larger than 75 kilograms. Their weight changes greatly between seasons and between years when food is scarce or the weather is bad. Only the males grow antlers, and each set of antlers falls off every year, and a new set replaces them. The antlers get larger as the male deer age until they are five years old. 

Range & Habitat

The white-tailed deer’s range is from British Columbia to Nova Scotia and southward into the entire United States. These deer live in areas of B.C. with shallow snowpack. They like valleys that have less snow cover, as it makes it easier for them to find food on the ground. 

Reciprocal relationships

White-tailed deer are important grazers year-round.  In the spring, they mostly eat grasses and green herbs. They will even go into farming areas to eat from fields of alfalfa. In the winter, they look for broken branches of trees such as Douglas-fir that fall on the ground, and other shrubs like seedling cottonwoods and snowbrush. The bucks can be seen grazing alone in the summertime while the female doe and her young fawns stay together. The deer will band together during the winter when food is scarce, as the snow may be high and feeding areas may be limited. The males will fight during the breeding season using their antlers to push each other around. 

They have been recorded to survive up to 20 years, but the average lifespan of the deer is 10 years. Grey wolves, bobcats, cougars, and bears are predators of the whitetail in B.C. They are also hunted by humans for food, hides, and antlers. The Habitat Conservation Trust Fund, alongside other organizations, have been working toward habitat restoration and enhancement, such as prescribed burning, which would benefit these deer. 

status

COSEWIC: Not Reported 
CDC: Yellow 

more information

If you belong to a First Nation with a story or piece of information not represented here and you would like to share more about this species, please email us at education@sierraclub.bc.ca

photo credit

Canva

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