Species: Odocoileus hemionus

Mule Deer

Species

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Encyclopedia of Puget Sound

Pelage is reddish or yellowish brown in summer, more grayish brown in winter. Ears are large and may move independently. Males have antlers that branch into separate equal beams that fork into two tines (white-tailed deer has only one main beam). Upper side of tail white with a black tip or all black or brown. Juveniles have spotted pelage.

Classification

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Craniata

Class

Mammalia

Order

Artiodactyla

Family

Cervidae

Genus

Odocoileus

NatureServe

Source:
ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.101365

Classification

Other Global Common Names

Black-tailed Deer - cerf mulet

Informal Taxonomy

Animals, Vertebrates - Mammals - Other Mammals

Formal Taxonomy

Animalia - Craniata - Mammalia - Artiodactyla - Cervidae - Odocoileus - See Cronin (1991) for a phylogeny of the Cervidae based on mitochondrial-DNA data. See Kraus and Miyamoto (1991) for a phylogenetic analysis of pecoran ruminants (Cervidae, Bovidae, Moschidae, Antilocapridae, and Giraffidae) based on mitochondrial DNA data.

Ecology and Life History

Migration

true - true - false - In mountainous regions, tends to migrate (up to 100+ km) from high summer range to lower winter range. In southeastern Alaska, migrated from low elevation heavily forested winter range to higher elevation summer range in open canopy subalpine and alpine habitats (Schoen and Kirchhoff 1990). In arid southwest, may migrate in response to rainfall patterns. Generally not migratory on plains. Exhibits high fidelity to individual seasonal ranges (e.g, see Kucera 1992).

Non-migrant

true

Locally Migrant

true

Food Comments

Browses on wide variety of woody plants and grazes on grasses and forbs. May feed on agricultural crops. Also commonly consumes mushrooms, especially in late summer and fall (Great Basin Nat. 52:321). In northern California, reproductive success apparently was reduced due to selenium deficiency (Flueck, 1994, Ecology 75:807-812).

Reproduction Comments

Mule deer mate in autumn, often mainly late November to mid-December. Gestation lasts about 203 days Births occur in late spring, mostly in May-June in much of the range, sometimes as late as July or August. Litter size is 1-2, depending on age and condition of female. Fawns are born with spotted pelage and initially stay hidden. They lose their spots generally by late summer or early fall. Weaning begins at about 5 weeks, usually completed by 16 weeks. Males usually first breed at 2 years, males at 3-4 years.

Ecology Comments

Home range size may be 30-240 hectares or more; directly correlated with availability of food, water and cover. Deep winter snows are major factor limiting population size in Pacific Northwest (Schoen and Kirchhoff 1990). Predators include: mountain lions; coyotes; dogs. <br><br>See Hatter and Janz (1994) for information on apparent demographic changes associated with wolf control on northern Vancouver Island.<br><br>Mule deer males use glands on their forehead to apply scent marks to trees. These scent posts communicate the presence and physiological status of the deer and seem to be important in the social and reproductive biology of the species.

Length

199

Weight

215000

Conservation Status

NatureServe Global Status Rank

Global Status Last Reviewed

1996-11-19

Global Status Last Changed

1996-11-19

Distribution

Conservation Status Map

Global Range

H - >2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles) - H - Native range extends from southeastern Alaska south through Canada and most of the western United States and Great Plains, to Baja California (including some islands in the Sea of Cortez) and the southern end of the Mexican Plateau (Sonora and northern Tamaulipas, according to Grubb, in Wilson and Reeder 1993). The species has been introduced in Hawaii (Tomich 1986) and Argentina.

Global Range Code

Global Range Description

>2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles)

ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.101365