White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus)

A male, white-tailed deer that has recently lost an antler. Click on the picture to open a larger photo.

The white-tailed deer is a mammal. Female white-tails are called "does", males are called "bucks" and young white-tails are called "fawns". Bucks grow antlers. The bucks use their antlers for sparring with other bucks when competing for mates. After the breeding season, the bucks drop their antlers and then new antlers grow-in each spring.

White-tailed deer have a long tail that is white on the underside. They have gray-brown fur in winter that changes to reddish-brown in the summer. Bucks can weigh up to 400 pounds and does can weigh up to 200 pounds. White-tails are herbivores (they eat only plant material). Some foods white-tails may like to eat includes young leaves and stems, grass, berries, bark and nuts.

White-tailed deer are found in forests, fields and swamps throughout the state of Florida and throughout the United States. The Key deer is a smaller variety of the white-tailed deer. Key deer are only found in the Florida Keys.

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U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey, Center for Coastal Geology
This page is: http://sofia.usgs.gov /virtual_tour/kids/critters/deer.html
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Last updated: 11 October, 2002 @ 09:43 PM (KP)