We had visitors to the western Carillon Stonegate Pond. Three Whitetail Deer - all young bucks!
Just imagine, two of the bucks decided to put on a spectacular show to showcase their jousting skills with their impressive antlers. Male deer – bucks - are truly remarkable creatures, especially in the summer and fall when their prominent antlers are on full display. These bucks we saw had six points on their antlers!
Did you know that Whitetail deer are the smallest members of the North American deer family? Despite their size, adults can reach about 6 feet in total length and 39 inches in shoulder height. And get this, the average weights are impressive too: adult males weigh around 203 lbs. while adult females weigh approximately 155 lbs!
But wait, there's more! Whitetail deer are like tri-athletes in the animal kingdom! They run, they jump, and they swim with incredible prowess. These amazing creatures use their speed and agility to outrun predators, reaching speeds of up to 30 miles per hour. They can leap as high as 10 feet and as far as 30 feet in a “Superman-like” single bound. And get this, they can swim as fast as 13 miles per hour – even faster than Katie Ledecky's 6 mph!
Whitetail deer are truly fascinating beings that can be found across most of the United States and southern Canada. Their typical family group consists of a mother and her fawns. During the summer, they roam fields and meadows, while in the winter, they seek refuge in forests. Their mating season is between November and February, and the female gives birth to one to three adorable fawns about six months after mating. These fawns are born reddish-brown with white spots to help them blend in.
Did you know that Whitetail deer do not migrate? Instead, they have “home ranges” and “core areas” where they feel secure and comfortable, just like the woods north and west of our ponds. Their home ranges are where they travel for food and water, usually covering less than one square mile. These ranges may change from year to year, but their core areas remain constant, making them truly fascinating creatures to observe!
Some interesting facts about Whitetail Deer:
"Whitetail" refers to the white underside of the deer's tail, which it displays and wags when it senses danger.
Illinois designated white-tailed deer as the official state animal in 1980 after winning the vote of the schoolchildren of Illinois (state animal in eight other states)
Whitetail deer fawns are normally born sometime between late April and early May.
A Whitetail deer will live to 5 – 10 years in the wild.
A whitetail deer's eyes are on the sides of its head, giving it 310 degrees of vision without rotating its head
They can rotate their ears in any direction without moving their heads
They can detect smells hundreds of yards away (5 miles if it is your teenage grandson’s deodorant), licking the nose to increase its sensitivity.
So get out this fall. Take a hike and see what you can find – and identify!
Comments