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White-tailed deer
White-tailed Deer are a native ungulate in parts of southern British Columbia, primarily in lowland forests, riparian areas, and agricultural regions. They are a regulated hunting species, providing recreational hunting opportunities and contributing to ecosystem dynamics as herbivores.
Yellow listed species
Human Health Hazard
Conservation Status
Syilx
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Description
White-tailed Deer stand about 90 cm tall at the shoulder. Adult males (bucks) typically weigh 68 to 102 kg and adult females (does) 45 to 73 kg. But weights vary considerably depending on age, the season, and the condition of the range. Their coat is mostly reddish brown in summer but changes to grey or greyish-brown in winter, with a contrasting white pelage on the belly, inside of the legs, underside of the tail, around the eyes, and on the chin and throat. The most striking feature of this deer, and the source of its name, is its triangular foot-long tail. On top, the tail is brown with a prominent white fringe, but the underside is snowy white. When a whitetail runs, its tail sticks up and bobs from side to side with each bound. Whitetail bucks have distinctive antlers that fall off and grow back every year. Each antler has a main beam that rises from the top of the head, curves slightly backward, then turns out and forward over the face. Each main beam holds one to several unbranched tines, or points. Male fawns have no visible antlers, but yearlings may have either a single spike or antlers with four to eight tines. Older bucks always have several tines, but the number of points is not a measure of age. Antlers are full grown when bucks are about five years old, but in older bucks they often have many small tines and look uneven or malformed. There are obvious differences between White-tailed Deer and their closest relative, the Mule Deer. Mule Deer have a white rump patch surrounding a narrow black-tipped tail. They have large ears and, in adult bucks, branching or dichotomous antlers that divide and redivide into paired beams and points. The two species also have different ways of running, especially when they are alarmed. The smooth-flowing gallop of the White-tailed Deer contrasts sharply with the stiff-legged, bounding gait of the Mule Deer.
Habitat
The White-tailed Deer does not occur everywhere in British Columbia. Whitetails are most abundant along valley bottoms in the Kootenay and Okanagan regions, particularly in the southernmost parts of those valleys near the US border. In Northern British Columbia, whitetails are most numerous along the Peace River and the lower reaches of tributaries like the Halfway, Beatton, Moberly, Pine, and Kiskatinaw rivers.
For most of the year, valley bottoms are the main habitat for White-tailed Deer in British Columbia. In the East Kootenay area, deer find winter range on south- to southwest-facing slopes and on fans and terraces where shrub stands have developed after wildfires, logging, or land-clearing for agriculture. They also use aspen, cottonwood, and willow groves along rivers and around wetlands in early winter before the snow gets too deep. In areas that get deep snow cover, whitetails depend on patches of coniferous trees that catch the snow and provide places to hide and shelter from winter winds. Grasslands are important at spring thaw, when females need more energy to nourish their near-term fetuses. In summer, the whitetails migrate to floodplains and adjacent terraces where they find the succulent forage crucial for milk production by nursing does. Cultivated fields are also prime foraging sites during summer. The best summer ranges occur in well-developed riparian habitats – for example, along large rivers such as the Columbia, Kootenay, Elk, Bull, Flathead, and Kettle. Seasonal movements are mostly upstream or downstream along the major valleys, or cross-valley from north-facing slopes in summer to south-facing sites in winter. These deer are strong swimmers and regularly cross large rivers like the Columbia and Peace. White-tailed Deer rarely use the subalpine and alpine zones.
Food
In the Kootenay region in winter, whitetails eat mostly the twigs of woody plants, coniferous foliage, and cured herbs. In spring, they eat mostly grasses and green herbs, and in summer primarily the leaves of deciduous shrubs and trees. Whitetails also relish irrigated crops such as alfalfa, particularly in summer. The most important shrubs in areas like the Pend-d’Oreille Valley include redstem ceanothus, choke cherry, serviceberry, Oregon grape, snowbrush, and seedling cottonwoods. Douglas-fir branches that are broken down by snow and the lichens growing on them are also important winter foods.
In British Columbia, Elk, Mule Deer, domestic cattle, and whitetails may share the same ranges. In summer, they are not as likely to compete for food because forage is abundant. In winter, most Mule Deer remain on steep and rocky mountain slopes, but the whitetails prefer more gentle terrain in the valley bottoms which tends to reduce competition between them for food. Although Elk share some of the whitetails winter ranges, they tend to graze on grasses, sedges, and herbs instead of the woody browse that deer prefer. However, Elk eat shrubs, too, and may compete with whitetails if their own range is over-populated or if herbaceous forage is scarce. Cattle also eat shrubs when other forage is not available, but in general, White-tailed Deer in British Columbia do not have to face serious competition from other herbivores for food.
Social System, Activity & Movements
For White-tailed Deer, the basic social unit is the doe and her fawns. In summer, bucks usually graze alone, or with a few other bucks at most. In winter, particularly when the snow is deep, larger numbers of deer may gather in a favourite feeding area, but they do not have strong social bonds.
In early autumn, just before the breeding season, the magnificent whitetail is in peak physical condition. Their rounded bodies are carrying large reserves of fat, and their thick winter coat makes them look bigger and stronger. Shorter days and cooler temperatures in the fall trigger the start of the breeding season, which peaks in November. Most breeding activity involves yearlings and older animals, but in good habitats a few female fawns may be bred later in the season. Yearling bucks usually don’t get a chance to mate, except where older males are in short supply.
During the breeding period, also called the rut, bucks with swollen necks travel incessantly, searching for does, pawing up muddy pits along trails, threshing shrubs with their antlers, and fighting with their rivals. Sometimes two similar-sized bucks engage their antlers and vigorously push each other back and forth in serious battle. The winner of these battles usually breeds any receptive does in the vicinity, passing on his superior characteristics to the next generation.
White-tailed deer are primarily crepuscular (active at twilight) in the spring, but are active during the hours of daylight as well in the summer, including midday. By late autumn at the onset of the rut and throughout this period, bouts of activity occur equally at all times during a 24-hour period. Winter activity, mainly foraging, is more likely in late afternoon. Storms at any time of year may reduce activity, with slightly more movement taking place before and after inclement weather. General levels of activity increase with day length in late winter and spring, decline in summer and then peak again in late autumn. Deer stand quietly or bed down in cover when inactive.
Reproduction & Parental Care
Most does come into heat in November. They are usually bred during this first estrus period, but if not, they have a second or even third estrus at about 28-day intervals. When a doe is in heat, a buck may follow her for two or three days. Bucks fast while they are rutting, so they lose a lot of weight during this period, making them more vulnerable to winter mortality than females. The doe carries the developing fawns for 195 to 210 days. After this gestation period, the doe drives off her young of the previous year and finds dense cover where she will give birth to her new fawns. In British Columbia, most fawns are born in late May or June. Twins are the rule, but single births and triplets are not uncommon. At birth whitetail fawns have silky, reddish coats dappled with white spots and weigh about 3 kg. Within a few hours after they are born, the fawns can stand and take a couple of wobbly steps on their long spindly legs. Their mothers return a few times each day to nurse and groom them. For the first week or so the defenseless fawns have no odor, and predators can’t easily find them. For the first two to three months, they stay close to their mothers and don’t go out in the open. As they grow older, they gather strength and confidence and start venturing out with their mothers for longer distances and periods of time. Fawns molt out of their spotted coats in September, are weaned by about October, and weigh about 35 kg by December.
Natural Mortality & Predators
The whitetail’s predators in BC include Grey Wolves, bears, Cougars, Bobcats, and Coyotes. While predation is not a serious threat to the long term conservation of British Columbia’s White-tailed Deer populations, predation can have a substantial impact in combination with severe winters. Whitetails are host to a wide variety of parasites and other disease organisms, but these are seldom a direct cause of death in whitetails in British Columbia. In eastern Canada and the U.S., some White-tailed Deer carry parasites or diseases that are deadly to other native ungulates or livestock. For this reason, the British Columbia government has banned the importation of live members of the deer family into the province.
Credit
BC Ministry of Environment http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/wld/documents/whttail.pdf http://www.esf.edu/aec/adks/mammals/wtd.htm