White-tailed Deer

Description:

White-tailed deer vary in size across their range with the smallest subspecies living in southern Florida and ranging to animals that on the average are twice that size in the northern part of their range. Average sized deer in Minnesota weigh 180 lbs. or more. They are reddish brown in the summer and tend toward gray/brown in the winter. Males are larger than females and have antlers that are shed and regrown annually.

Habitat:

White-tailed deer have a wide range across much of the US and Canada, in a number of different habitats. They tend to avoid large open areas and are most often found in brushy forests and along tree-lined rivers in grasslands. Increasing numbers are found in suburban parks and mature wooded yards.

Notes:

This is the season of the rut for whitetails in our area. In the second photo two bucks approach each other warily. They will fight, but these two animals, due to their living on a small island, almost certainly know each other and knows who would win a battle so they avoid direct confrontation. A few bluffs and snorts and the confrontation is settled.