Citizendia
Your Ad Here

Mule Deer
A Mule Deer in Colorado, USA.
A Mule Deer in Colorado, USA. The State of Colorado ( or chiefly by nonresidents) is a state located in the Rocky Mountain region of the United States of America. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Family: Cervidae
Subfamily: Odocoileinae
Genus: Odocoileus
Species: O. The conservation status of a Species is an indicator of the likelihood of that species remaining extant either in the present day or the near future Least Concern ( LC) is an IUCN category assigned to extant species or lower taxa which have been evaluated but do not qualify for any other category Chordates ( Phylum Chordata) are a group of Animals that includes the Vertebrates together with several closely related Invertebrates Mammals ( class Mammalia) are a class of Vertebrate Animals characterized by the presence of Sweat glands, including sweat glands The even-toed ungulates form the Mammal order Artiodactyla. They are Ungulates whose weight is borne (if they have more than two toes about A deer is a Ruminant Mammal belonging to the family Cervidae. Odocoileus is a genus of medium-sized Deer that contains three species hemionus
Binomial name
Odocoileus hemionus
(Rafinesque, 1817)

The mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) is a deer whose habitat is in the western half of North America. Constantine Samuel Rafinesque-Schmaltz, as he is known in Europe ( October 22 1783 - September 18 1840) was a nineteenth-century Year 1817 ( MDCCCXVII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common A deer is a Ruminant Mammal belonging to the family Cervidae. It gets its name from its large mule-like ears. In its common modern meaning a mule is the offspring of a male Donkey and a female Horse, which is classified as a kind of F1 hybrid. Its closest relative is the black-tailed deer (considered a subspecies of mule deer). The Black-tailed deer, or Blacktail deer ( Odocoileus hemionus) is a species of Deer found in western North America, specifically the Unlike its cousin, the white-tailed deer, mule deer are generally more associated with the land west of the Missouri River. The White-tailed deer ( Odocoileus virginianus) also known as the Virginia deer, or simply as the whitetail, is a medium-sized Deer found throughout The most noticeable differences between whitetails and muleys are the color of their tails and configuration of their antlers. The mule deer's tail is black tipped. Mule deer antlers "fork" as they grow rather than branching from a single main beam (as with white-tails). Each year a buck's antlers start to grow in spring and are shed after mating season from mid-January to mid-April. Mule deer bucks have somewhat more prominent ears than females.

The mule deer is the largest of the Odocoileus genus, standing, on the average, 40 to 42 inches at the shoulders and stretching 80 inches or so nose to tail. An adult buck will weigh from 150 to 300 pounds on the hoof, with does averaging 100 to 175 pounds. The occasional trophy-sized mule deer buck may weigh in around 400 pounds. [1]

Instead of running, mule deer move with a bounding leap (stotting) with all four feet coming down together. Stotting (also pronking or pronging) is a gait of Quadrupeds, particularly Gazelles (e Adult male mule deer are called bucks, adult females are called does, and young of both sexes are called fawns.

Contents

Seasonal behaviors

In addition to movements related to available shelter and food, the breeding cycle is important in understanding deer behavior and personality. The "rut" or mating season usually begins in the fall as does go into estrus for a period of a few days and males become more aggressive, competing for mates. The Rut is the period of time when antlered Ungulates mate Ungulates include Deer, Sheep, Elk, Moose, Caribou, Oestrus is also the biological genus name of the gadfly. The estrous cycle (also oestrous cycle; derived from Latin Does may mate with more than one buck and go back into estrus within a month if they do not mate. The gestation period is approximately 190–200 days, with fawns born in the spring, staying with their mothers during the summer and being weaned in the fall after approximately 60–75 days. A buck's antlers fall off during the winter, to grow again in preparation for the next season's rut. For more information see main article on deer. A deer is a Ruminant Mammal belonging to the family Cervidae.

Foraging

In summer, it chiefly forages on not only herbaceous plants, but also various berries (including blackberry, huckleberry, salal, and thimbleberry). The BlackBerry is a Wireless Handheld device introduced in 1999 as a two-way pager Salal or shallon ( Gaultheria shallon, Ericaceae) is a leathery-leaved shrub native to western North America. Rubus parviflorus ( Thimbleberry) is a species of Rubus, native to western and northern North America, from Alaska In winter, it forages on conifers (especially twigs of Douglas fir, cedar, Taxus yews, aspen, willow, dogwood, serviceberry, juniper, and sage). Douglas-fir is the common name applied to coniferous Trees of the Genus Pseudotsuga in the family Pinaceae. Cedar ( Cedrus) is a genus of Coniferous Trees in the Plant family Pinaceae. Taxus is a Genus of yews small coniferous Trees or Shrubs in the yew family Taxaceae. Aspens are Trees of the willow family and comprise a section of the Poplar genus Populus sect Willows, sallows and osiers form the Genus Salix, around 400 species of Deciduous Trees and Shrubs found primarily The Dogwoods comprise a group of 30-50 species of mostly Deciduous Woody plants growing as Shrubs and Trees some species are herbaceous perennial Amelanchier, also known as shadbush, serviceberry, sarvisberry, juneberry, Saskatoon, shadblow, shadwood Junipers are Coniferous plants in the genus Juniperus of the cypress family Cupressaceae. Year-round, it eats acorns and apples. The acorn is the nut of the Oak tree (genera Quercus, Lithocarpus and Cyclobalanopsis, in the The apple is the pomaceous Fruit of the apple tree Species Malus domestica in the Rose family Rosaceae.

Mule Deer grazing in Zion National Park.
Mule Deer grazing in Zion National Park. Zion National Park is a United States National Park located in the Southwestern United States, near Springdale Utah.
A Mule Deer doe grazing near the Devon Lakes.
A Mule Deer doe grazing near the Devon Lakes.

Mule deer prefer "edge" habitats where the trees meet the grass, and their populations tend to move up or down with those of their preferred foods. Mule deer rarely travel far from water or forage, and tend to bed down within easy walking distance of both. Young mule deer tend to forage together in family groups while bucks tend to travel alone or with other bucks. Most actively foraging around dawn and dusk, they tend to bed down in protected areas mid-day, but will also forage at night in more open agricultural areas or when pressured by hunters. Repeated beds will often be scratched level, about the size of a washtub. Temporary beds will seem little more than flattened grassy grounds.

Classification

References

External links

© 2009 citizendia.org; parts available under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License, from http://en.wikipedia.org
 Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic