WHITETAIL DEER FACTS
1. Based on hunter reports, about 1 Whitetail Deer in 30,000 is albino.
2. Melanistic deer are very dark sometimes even black and results from overproduction of pigment and is less common than albinism.
3. Albinism is a recessive trait and both Whitetail Deer parents must carry the gene before it can occur in their offspring.
4. The Whitetail Deers antlers are the fastest growing structures in the animal kingdom, growing as much as a 1/2 inch per day.
5. Usually by the end of August the antlers growth is complete.
6. The deer genus was given the name Odocoileus by Rafinesque in 1832.
7. A female Whitetail Deer will often give birth to twins if she resides in an area with good food. However triplets are common as well as occasional quadruplets.
8. The largest recorded body weight for a Whitetail Deer is 511 pounds.
9. Recent estimates put the Whitetail Deer population in the U.S. at around 30 million animals.
10. The Whitetail Deer is named for it's signature tail and the white under part.
11. Per scientists there are 38 Sub-species of Whitetail Deer.
12. A Whitetail buck usually weighs between 130-220 pounds, but have been recorded at well over 350 pounds.
13. In the 1930's the Whitetail Deer population in the U.S. was only about 300,000 animals, due to unregulated hunting and poor land-use practices.
14. A Whitetail buck will shed his antlers each year between December - April.
15. The average life span of a Whitetail Deer is between 8-11 years.
16. Deer do not have a gall bladder on their livers. This allows them to eat vegetation that would kill domestic animals.
17. The members of the deer family are ruminants, having a four compartmented stomach which allows the deer to feed very rapidly.
18. A Whitetail Deer has a top speed of 40 mph.
19. A deer's gestation period is 200-205 days, most of the fawns being born in the latter part of May or early June.
20. Whitetail Deer require 10-12 pounds of food per day.
21. The Whitetail Deer is the most abundant Big Game animal in North America.
22. The Florida Key Deer are the smallest sub-species of our native deer.
23.The average Whitetail Deer stands between 36 and 40 inches high at the top of the shoulder.
24. There is one authenticated record of a captive deer living to be 19 years old.
25. A deer can clear an 8 ft hurdle from a standing position.
26. Deer are very good swimmers. They have been clocked at 13 mph.
27. A female deer weighs about 4 1/2 pounds at birth and a male weighs about 5 1/2 pounds.
28. A fawn can begin walking slowly only after 20 minutes after being born.
29. About 40% of the young does may breed in their first autumn so that they give birth when they are one year old.