Mule Deer (Odocoileus hemionus)

Key Characteristics:

The mule deer gets its name from its large mule-like ears, which move constantly and independently. Its closest relative is the black-tailed deer. The mule deer’s tail is black tipped and its antlers fork as they grow rather than branching from a single main beam. Each year a buck’s antlers start to grow in spring and are shed after mating season. The male have more prominent ears than the female.

Habitat:

Mule deer prefer habitats where the trees meet the grass. Their populations move up or down with their preferred foods. This includes not only herbaceous plants, but various berries, blackberry, huckleberry, salal and thimbleberry. In winter the diet includes Douglas fir, cedar, yews, aspen, willow, dogwood, serviceberry, juniper, and sage. Mule deer rarely travel far from water or forage, and bed down within easy walking distance of both. Their habitat includes the four deserts of the American Southwest.

                                                                                                                                  Photo Credit:  George Andrejko

Adaptations to desert living:

Migrations depending on rainfall patterns, inactivity in the daytime, foraging in the morning and evenings and moonlit nights are all adaptations to the desert environment. Sweat glands and panting also help cooling during hot periods. Another adaptation, its larger feet, allows the deer to claw out water, which it detects with its keen sense of smell. The fawn mule deer’s gray- buff color provides an adaptation to the desert environment which disguises it from it from predators like the Cougar, Coyote, and Eagle who prey on fawns. Fawns have little or no scent.

Description:

The mule deer is the largest of the Odocoileus genus, 40 to 42 inches at the shoulder, and 80 inches nose to tail. The adult buck will weight from 150 to 300 lbs. Life span is 10 years in the wild. Mule deer move in bounding leaps( up to 8 yards), instead of running, with all four feet coming down together. They can reach speeds up to 45 mph for short periods. If necessary they can turn or reverse direction in a single bound. The mule deer is an excellent swimmer, but rarely uses water as an escape. The breeding cycle is important to understanding the deer’s seasonal behavior. Mating season begins in the fall, males become more aggressive competing for mates. Dominance is largely a matter of size. The largest males, with the largest antlers do most of the copulations. Fawns are born in the spring , staying with the mother during the summer, and are weaned in the fall.

Why I found this organism really interesting:

For Native Americans , deer meat provided one of the most important sources of protein. Deer hides were used to make clothes and moccasins. Even today sport hunters kill about a million Mule deer.

Author: Glenn Tueffle

References: Wikipedia; Desert USA