By Region of
Habitat
Deer are among the most common large land mammals and have long provided humans with meat, hide and sport. While they have no permanent homes, dens, or nesting areas, they do have what is referred to as a home range, or the area where they spend their lives roaming and searching for food. Members of the deer family live in a wide variety of places, including, forests, swamps, deserts and tundra. They prefer areas, which have woodlands to hide in and open land to graze.
While deer can adapt well to nearly any habitat, different species have certain traits and/or characteristics that enable them to survive in specific locations. The two groups of American deer according to their habitat areas are North American Deer and Central and South American Deer.
NORTH AMERICAN DEER
North American deer inhabit areas ranging from the cold territory of Canada to the tropic weather of Florida. After white settlers came to North America, they killed so many deer that the animal was wiped out in large regions of the continent. With the implementation of management practices, the deer population has recovered and even in some instances grown so large that deer are sometimes killed just to reduce their numbers.
Whitetail Deer
Whitetail deer range from Southern Canada over nearly the entire continental United States. Averaging over three feet in height and weighing around two hundred pounds, they are the most common large game animals of North America. The coat of a whitetail deer is a reddish brown color in the summer, turning to a darker gray in the winter. Their most outstanding characteristic is their large whitetail, which is used to signal other deer when danger is present. They are most active in forests and fields during dawn and dusk. Their diet consists mostly of acorns, clover, alfalfa, tree buds, apples berries and mushrooms.
Mule Deer
Mule deer range as far west as Texas and east to Wisconsin and are also found in Western Canada. The resemblance of their ears to those of a mule earns these deer their name, but they are also called black-tailed deer in the Pacific Northwest. Their coat color is similar to that of the whitetail deer but they are stockier in appearance. They prefer to roam around forest edges and in the mountains and hills where they forage for yew, aspen, willow, acorns, dogwood, grapes, mushrooms, ferns mistletoe, berries and apples.
Caribou
Caribou, which live in northern North America, are closely related to the reindeer. Unlike all other deer except reindeer, both males and females have antlers. Caribou grow about four feet high and vary in color from white to gray or brown. Their major food sources are ground and tree lichens, but they also eat shrubs, grasses and willows.
Elk
Elk are the second largest deer in the world. Male elk stand about five feet high and can weigh up to 1,100 pounds. They inhabited nearly all of North America before settlers moved in, but now are found mainly on the western side of North America in wooded and grassy areas. The elk has a dark brownish fur coat with a lightly colored rump and they are one of the few deer species that grow a mane on its neck. They prefer to feed on flowers, various grasses, fresh growth and bark.
Moose
The moose is the largest member of the deer family. Some males stand over seven feet at the shoulder and weigh up to 1,800 pounds. Their antlers alone may measure over four feet wide and weigh up to sixty pounds. Moose are usually alone rather than in herds and are found in forests, around streams, swamps, lakes and streams. Their range includes the Rocky Mountain region and all across Canada. They are also found in Colorado, Alaska and eastern states including Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and Minnesota. In addition to twigs, roots and bark, their diet also includes many aquatic plants such as water lilies, seaweed, and horsetail.
CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICAN DEER
Several species of deer are found in the forests and wetlands of Central and South America, but in many cases their numbers are declining. Following European settlement deer were hunted extensively and their hides were processed on a wide scale. During the later half of the twentieth century road construction brought more settlements into the animals’ natural habitat. Agricultural and industrial activities have also affected large tracts of forest and wetland areas resulting in isolation and depletion of some deer populations.
Pudu Deer
Pudu deer, sometimes called rabbit deer, are the smallest of all deer. They live in Peru, Columbia and the lower Andes of Chile, Argentina and Ecuador. Pudu grow only about one foot high and weigh about 20 pounds and actually bark like a dog when they are alarmed. They have short, spike like antlers and their rough, brittle hair is brown or gray. With very short legs and a small body, the pudu can move quickly through dense vegetation and among rocks to escape predators. Their habitat is areas of dense underbrush and bamboo thickets, which they feed on along with other leaves, bark, twigs, buds, blossoms, fruit and berries. Pudu deer usually live alone or in pairs and are rarely found in groups of more than three. They are in danger of extinction since their natural habitat is being diminished as a result of various human activities.
Marsh Deer
The marsh deer lives in the swampy plains and forests of Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay. Standing about four feet high, and resembling the mule deer in size and antler shape, they are the largest South American deer. Their large feet have an elastic membrane between the hooves that helps them keep from sinking in their marshy habitat from which they earned their name. Their long bushy tail sets them apart from the other species. Marsh deer prefer marshy, swampy ground with standing water and dense vegetation. Their diets consist mainly of aquatic vegetation. The marsh deer population has suffered from uncontrolled hunting and habitat destruction. Their numbers are also reduced due to the fact that they often fall victim to common cattle diseases.
Brocket Deer
Small in size like the pudu deer the brocket deer has slender legs, a long gray neck, pink ears, and a red-brown coat. They live in wooded areas from southern Mexico to Paraguay. They grow to only about twenty inches high and have a proportionately large rump that rises from a curved back. Their tails are like small round white powder puffs. Brocket antlers are short, simple, straight spikes. Brockets are able to slide under and through tangled vines and slip into dense vegetation found in the rain forest. They usually feed alone on various types of leaves, flowers, fruits, shoots and seedlings. In many places they have been exploited by uncontrolled hunting and their numbers are severely reduced.
Pampas Deer
Pampas deer are named for the tall pampas grasses of the South American Plains in which they live. Their numbers used to be high in the savannas and cerrado south of the Amazon. Much habitat loss has occurred in this area and that along with uncontrolled hunting has wiped this herd out of much of its original range. These deer grow about three feet high at the shoulders and have either reddish-brown or yellowish-brown hair. The male pampas deer have glands in their back hoofs that give off a strong odor. Their preference for open grazing areas combined with the strong odor emitted by the males make them an easy target for hunters.
Huemul
Huemul, or Andean deer, are found in the Andes Mountains from Ecuador to southern Argentina. They live at higher altitudes in the summer and move down the mountains in the fall then spend the winter in the forests and valleys. Huemul average about three feet in height and have speckled coats of gray, yellow and brown. Longer hair on the face and tail give them a somewhat shaggy appearance. Overhunting for food combined with habitat loss has caused a major decline in the number of Andean in the wild. There is little evidence of established populations outside of protected areas.
Management is very important in maintaining the deer population of any region. When left unmanaged, deer can overpopulate, causing damage to forests and crops, as well as increasing the risk of disease. However, uncontrolled hunting and destruction of natural habitat for human activities can lead to extinction of the various species. Continued efforts combining conservation and development will be necessary to maintain the proper balance.
Corey Cooper