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The mule deer Odocoileus hemionus is a deer indigenous to western North America ; it is named for its ears, which are large like those of the mule. Two subspecies of mule deer are grouped into the black-tailed deer.

Unlike the related white-tailed deer Odocoileus virginianus , which is found throughout most of North America east of the Rocky Mountains and in the valleys of the Rocky Mountains from Idaho and Wyoming northward, mule deer are only found on the western Great Plains , in the Rocky Mountains, in the southwest United States , and on the west coast of North America.

Mule deer have also been introduced to Argentina and Kauai, Hawaii. Mule deer can be divided into two main groups: the mule deer sensu stricto and the black-tailed deer. The first group includes all subspecies, except O. Some authorities have recognized O. The 10 valid subspecies, based on the third edition of Mammal Species of the World , are: [5]. The most noticeable differences between white-tailed and mule deer are ear size, tail color, and antler configuration.

In many cases, body size is also a key difference. The mule deer’s tail is black-tipped, whereas the white-tailed deer’s is not. Mule deer antlers are bifurcated; they “fork” as they grow, rather than branching from a single main beam, as is the case with white-taileds. Each spring, a buck’s antlers start to regrow almost immediately after the old antlers are shed. Shedding typically takes place in mid-February, with variations occurring by locale.

Although capable of running, mule deer are often seen stotting also called pronking , with all four feet coming down together. The mule deer is the larger of the three Odocoileus species on average, with a height of 80— cm 31—42 in at the shoulders and a nose-to-tail length ranging from 1.

Of this, the tail may comprise Adult bucks normally weigh 55— kg — lb , averaging around 92 kg lb , although trophy specimens may weigh up to kg lb. Does female deer are smaller and typically weigh from 43 to 90 kg 95 to lb , with an average of around 68 kg lb. Unlike the white-tailed, the mule deer does not generally show marked size variation across its range, although environmental conditions can cause considerable weight fluctuations in any given population.

An exception to this is the Sitka deer subspecies O. This race is markedly smaller than other mule deer, with an average weight of In addition to movements related to available shelter and food, the breeding cycle is important in understanding deer behavior. The ” rut ” or mating season usually begins in the fall as does go into estrus for a period of a few days and males become more aggressive, competing for mates.

Does may mate with more than one buck and go back into estrus within a month if they did not become pregnant. The gestation period is about — days, with fawns born in the spring. Mule deer females usually give birth to two fawns, although if it is their first time having a fawn, they often have just one.

A buck’s antlers fall off during the winter, then grow again in preparation for the next season’s rut. The annual cycle of antler growth is regulated by changes in the length of the day. The size of mule deer groups follows a marked seasonal pattern.

Groups are smallest during fawning season June and July in Saskatchewan and Alberta and largest in early gestation winter; February and March in Saskatchewan and Alberta. Besides humans, the three leading predators of mule deer are coyotes , wolves , and cougars. Bobcats , Canada lynx , wolverines , American black bears , and grizzly bears may prey upon adult deer, but most often only attack fawns or infirm specimens, or eat a deer after it has died naturally. Bears and smaller-sized carnivores are typically opportunistic feeders , and pose little threat to a strong, healthy mule deer.

In 99 studies of mule deer diets, some species of plants were eaten by mule deer, and their diets vary greatly depending on the season, geographic region, year, and elevation.

The diets of mule deer are very similar to those of white-tailed deer in areas where they coexist. Mule deer readily adapt to agricultural products and landscape plantings. Mule deer have also been known to eat ricegrass , gramagrass , and needlegrass , as well as bearberry , bitter cherry , black oak , California buckeye , ceanothus , cedar , cliffrose , cottonwood , creek dogwood , creeping barberry , dogwood , Douglas fir , elderberry , Fendlera species, goldeneye , holly-leaf buckthorn , jack pine , knotweed , Kohleria species, manzanita , mesquite , pine , rabbitbrush , ragweed , redberry , scrub oak , serviceberry including Pacific serviceberry , Sierra juniper , silktassel , snowberry , stonecrop , sunflower , tesota , thimbleberry , turbinella oak , velvet elder , western chokecherry , wild cherry , and wild oats.

Humans sometimes engage in supplemental feeding efforts in severe winters in an attempt to avoid mule deer starvation. Wildlife agencies discourage such efforts, which cause harm to mule deer populations by spreading disease such as tuberculosis and chronic wasting disease when deer congregate for feed, disrupting migratory patterns, causing overpopulation of local mule deer populations, and cause habitat destruction overbrowsing of shrubs and forbs.

Supplemental feeding efforts might be appropriate when carefully conducted under limited circumstances, but to be successful, the feeding must begin early in the severe winter before poor range conditions and severe weather cause malnourishment or starvation and must be continued until range conditions can support the herd. Mule deer foraging on a late winter morning at Okanagan Mountain Provincial Park.

Male Rocky Mountain mule deer O. Male O. Female Columbian black-tailed deer O. Mule deer are ruminants , meaning they employ a nutrient acquisition strategy of fermenting plant material before digesting it. Deer consuming high-fiber, low-starch diets require less food than those consuming high-starch, low-fiber diets. Rumination time also increases when deer consume high-fiber, low-starch diets, which allows for increased nutrient acquisition due to greater length of fermentation.

The average gross energy content of the consumed forage material is 4. Due to fluctuations in forage quality and availability, mule deer fat storage varies throughout the year, with the most fat stored in October, which is depleted throughout the winter to the lowest levels of fat storage in March.

Changes in hormone levels are indications of physiological adjustments to the changes in the habitat. Total body fat is a measure of the individual’s energy reserves, while thyroid hormone concentrations are a metric to determine the deer’s ability to use the fat reserves. Triiodothyronine T3 hormone is directly involved with basal metabolic rate and thermoregulation. Mule deer migrate from low elevation winter ranges to high elevations summer ranges. Mule deer migrate in fall to avoid harsh winter conditions like deep snow that covers up food resources, and in spring follow the emergence of new growth northwards.

This contradicts the idea that animals will go to the areas with the best available resources, which makes migratory paths crucial for survival. There are many risks that mule deer face during migration including climate change and human disturbance. Climate change impacts on seasonal growth patterns constitute a risk for migrating mule deer by invalidating historic or learned migration paths.

Human activities such as natural resource extraction, highways, fencing, and urban development all have an impact on mule deer populations and migrations through habitat degradation and fragmentation. It has also been found that fencing can alter deer behavior, acting as a barrier, and potentially changing mule deer migration patterns.

As a result of this, researchers have seen a decline in mule deer populations. This is especially prominent in Colorado where the population has grown by over 2. Protecting migrations corridors is essential to maintain healthy mule deer populations.

One thing everyone can do is help slow the increase in climate change by using greener energy sources and reducing the amount of waste in our households. Not only will populations benefit from these efforts but so will many other wildlife species. One way to help protect deer from getting hit on roadways is to install high fence wildlife fencing with escape routes. Approaches to mitigating the impact of drilling and mining operations include regulating the time of year when active drilling and heavy traffic to sites are taking place, and using well-informed planning to protect critical deer habitat and using barriers to mitigate the activity, noise, light at the extraction sites.

The increase in urbanization has impacted mule deer migrations and there is evidence to show it also disrupts gene flow among mule deer populations. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Deer indigenous to western North America. Conservation status. Rafinesque , [2].

Sitka black-tailed deer O. Columbian black-tailed deer O. California mule deer O. Rocky Mountain mule deer O. Retrieved 12 November Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 23 March Mammalian Species : 1—9. JSTOR Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN OCLC Walker’s Mammals of the World. JHU Press. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. March Coues Whitetail. Archived from the original on 9 February Retrieved 8 January Stackpole Books. Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington.

Archived PDF from the original on 15 September Mother Earth News. Ogden Publications. Archived from the original on 15 March Retrieved 4 January Animal Diversity Web.

Mule deer – Wikipedia – What do Mule Deer Look Like?

 
Mule deer can be found throughout desert regions as long as there is enough vegetation to hide in and to eat. They will move to higher elevations during the. The species, and its subspecies, are well adapted to a variety of ecosystems. The deer can be found in temperate forests, desert and semidesert. These deer are found west of the Missouri River, especially in the Rocky Mountain region of North America. Mule deer are adapted to arid, rocky environments.

– Where are mule deer found – where are mule deer found

They have a distinctive black forehead, or mask, that contrasts with a light gray face. In the summer, mule deer are tannish-brown and in the winter are brownish-gray in color.

They have a white rump patch and a small where are mule deer found – where are mule deer found tail with a black tip. Black-tailed deer are a subspecies of mule deer found in the Northwest and, as their name suggests, have black tails instead of white.

White-tailed deer are a different species but overlap in range with the mule deer in some places. Mule deer are slightly larger, have bigger ears, smaller tails, and have a forked antler structure rather than having points that grow from a central branch.

The easiest way to differentiate the species is to look at the tail. In addition, mule deer do not flash their tails in alarm. Mule deer range from 3 where are mule deer found – where are mule deer found 3. They can weigh between and pounds 59 and kilograms. The female deer are smaller than the male. Узнать больше deer are among the most beloved and iconic wildlife of the American West.

Mule deer are adapted to arid, rocky environments. They thrive in habitats that have a combination of the best areas to stay in charleston plant growth, mixed-species plant communities, and diverse and extensive shrub growth. A mixture of plant communities provides better forage than any where are mule deer found – where are mule deer found species. Plants that are young and emerging are more nutritious than mature trees and shrubs. Mule deer are browsers, feeding on herbaceous plants and the leaves and twigs of woody shrubs.

Mule deer are selective feeders. Instead of eating large quantities of low-quality feed like grass, they must select the most nutritious plants and parts of plants. Because of this, mule deer have more specific forage requirements than cattle or elk that share their habitat.

Between November and Where are mule deer found – where are mule deer found depending on the localitybucks that are evenly matched in size and strength engage in battles for the right to mate with females.

They lock antlers and fight until the point of exhaustion, when one will back down and flee from the victor. These victorious bucks attract females здесь them and attempt to defend them against the attention of other often younger bucks. Sexual maturity is attained at the age of about 18 months in does, but young bucks are not allowed to participate in the rut until they are three to four years old.

The gestation period is approximately to days, and the fawning period extends over several weeks in the summer. The female sequesters herself and drops her fawn in a protected where are mule deer found – where are mule deer found, where it remains for a period of a week or 10 days before it is strong enough to follow her. At birth, fawns are spotted and weigh approximately 5. The young ones are weaned at about the age of 60 or 75 days, at which time they begin to lose their spots. Mule deer usually live 9 to 11 years in the wild.

Now declining deer populations have people wondering if the factory is running down. Mule deer populations have been dropping across the West for several years. The renowned White River herd in northwest Colorado has plummeted from more thanin the early s to the current estimate of 32, deer. The Mammals of Texas. A groundbreaking bipartisan bill aims to address the looming wildlife crisis before it’s too late, while creating sorely needed jobs.

More than one-third of U. We’re on the ground in seven regions across the country, collaborating with 52 state and territory affiliates to reverse the crisis and ensure wildlife thrive. Uniting all Americans to ensure wildlife thrive in a rapidly changing world.

Inspire a lifelong connection with wildlife and wild places through our children’s publications, products, and activities. In 4 secondsyou will be redirected to nwfactionfund. The National Wildlife Federation. Mule Deer. Classification: Mammal.

Range Mule deer are among the most beloved and iconic wildlife of the American West. Diet Mule deer are browsers, feeding on herbaceous plants and the leaves and twigs of woody shrubs. Life History Between November and February depending on the localitybucks that are evenly matched in size and strength engage in battles for the right to mate with females.

Fun Fact Mule deer get their name from their big, mule-like ears. Donate Today. Sign a Petition. Donate Monthly. Nearby Events. Learn More. Read More. The National Wildlife Federation Uniting all Americans to ensure wildlife thrive in a rapidly changing world.

Join Ranger Rick Inspire a lifelong connection with wildlife and wild places through our children’s publications, products, and activities Learn More. National Wildlife Federation is a c 3 non-profit organization.

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