Doe, a deer

White Tailed Deer - also known as the reason you don’t have flowers! Seriously, deer do devour everything in the spring and summer. While it may feel like they are targeting your favorites, they actually are targeting anything and everything growing.

Personally, this is the only compaint I have with having them around. And I have learned to utilize my deck for the precious favorites. Everything else is free game. Its just easier than fighting it.

Deer are foragers, looking for leaves, fruits of trees, twigs, shrubs and the foliage of plants. They will also eat fungi, moss, grasses, seeds, farm crops and lichens.

They live in the woods, typically at the edge of clearings where they will find a variety of the foods they like. Their coat is a reddish-brown in spring and summer and turns greybrown in the fall and winter. It can be recognized by the white underside to its tail, which it raises when it is alarmed.

Mating (Rutting) season peaks in November. Thus, most babies are born in late May or early June and usually a doe gives birth to twins. The twins usually weigh just 4-7 pounds each, The babies will generally stay with their mom until they are old enough to breed. Some breed within their birth year while others within the first 1-1/2 years of age. Prime age for deer is 2-1/2 to 7-1/2 years of age, but they can live for 15 years in the wild.

Male deer regrow their antlers every year and the length and branching of the antlers are typically determined by age, nutrition and genetics.

White-tailed deer are a valuable resource in Missouri. Hunters contribute over $1.1 billion annually to the economy and they support over 12,000 jobs. Deer hunting is a popular form of recreation with long-time traditions.

The Missouri Department of Conservation provides the legal framework in managing the populations of white-tail deer.

Ending on a good note ~ My favorite deer encounter was during the summer. We were floating in a cove when a few does’ and their babies came down from the woods and the fawns started splashing and running through the water. It was so adorable to watch! An interesting fact is that deer are actually good swimmers and have been seen crossing parts of the lake.

References:

1. https://mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/fieldguide/white-tailed-deer

2. https://extension.missouri.edu/publications/ g9479

3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White-tailed_ deer

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