Discover

The 'mule deer' (''Odocoileus hemionus'') is a deer whose habitat is in the western half of North America. It gets its name from its large mule-like ears. Its closest relative is the black-tailed deer. The most noticeable differences between the two are the color of their tails and their antlers. The mule deer's tail is black tipped. Mule deer antlers "fork" as they grow rather than growing and expanding forward. Each year a buck's antlers start to grow in spring and are shed after mating season from mid-January to mid-April. Mule bucks have somewhat more prominent ears than females.
The mule deer is the largest of the ''Odocoileus'' genus, standing, on the average, 40 to 42 inches at the shoulders and stretching 80 inches or so nose to tail. An adult buck will weigh from 150 to 300 pounds on the hoof, with does averaging 100 to 175 pounds. With the occasional trophy-sized mule deer buck may weigh in around 450 pounds.[1]
Instead of running, mule deer move with a bounding leap (stotting) with all four feet coming down together. Adult male mule deer are called ''bucks'', adult females are called ''does'', and young of both sexes are called ''fawns''.

Contents

Seasonal behaviors

Foraging

Classification

References

External links

Seasonal behaviors

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 do not mate. The gestation period is approximately 190–200 days, with fawns born in the spring, staying with their mothers during the summer and being weaned in the fall after approximately 60–75 days. A buck's antlers fall off during the winter, to grow again in preparation for the next season's rut. For more information see main article on deer.

Foraging

In summer, it chiefly forages on not only herbaceous plants, but also various berries (including blackberry, huckleberry, salal, and thimbleberry). In winter, it forages on conifers (especially twigs of Douglas fir, cedar, Taxus yews, aspen, willow, dogwood, serviceberry, juniper, and sage). Year-round, it eats acorns and apples.
Mule deer prefer "edge" habitats and tend to move up or down with their preferred foods. Mule deer rarely travel far from water or forage, and tend to bed down within easy walking distance of both. Young mule deer tend to forage together in family groups while bucks tend to travel alone or with other bucks. Most actively foraging around dawn and dusk, they tend to bed down in protected areas mid-day, but will also forage at night in more open agricultural areas or when pressured by hunters. Repeated beds will often be scratched level, about the size of a washtub. Temporary beds will seem little more than flatened grass.

Classification

★ 'Family Cervidae'

★
★ 'Genus Odocoileus'

★
★
★ 'Species ''hemionus'' (western and central North America)'

★
★
★
★ ''Odocoileus hemionus californicus'' (California mule deer)

★
★
★
★ ''Odocoileus hemionus cerrosensis'' (Cedros (Cerros) Island mule deer)

★
★
★
★ ''Odocoileus hemionus columbianus'' (Columbian black-tailed or coast deer, British Columbia and northern California)

★
★
★
★ ''Odocoileus hemionus crooki'' (Desert mule deer, north Mexico)

★
★
★
★ ''Odocoileus hemionus eremicus'' (Burro deer, northwest Mexico and Arizona)

★
★
★
★ ''Odocoileus hemionus fuliginatus'' (Southern mule deer, California)

★
★
★
★ ''Odocoileus hemionus hemionus'' (Mule deer, western and central North America)

★
★
★
★ ''Odocoileus hemionus inyoensis'' (Inyo mule deer, California)

★
★
★
★ ''Odocoileus hemionus peninsulae'' (Peninsula mule deer, Baja, California)

★
★
★
★ ''Odocoileus hemionus sheldoni'' (Tiburon Island mule deer, Tiburon Island)

★
★
★
★ ''Odocoileus hemionus sitkensis'' (Sitka deer, coastal area and islands off western British Columbia)

References

★

★

External links

★ Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History species account-Mule Deer

★ Video of Mule Deer in Arizona

★ The Deer of North America