Deer
The white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) is the most abundant of Massachusetts' large game animals. They belong to to an order of ungulate (hoofed) mammals called the Artiodactyla (even-toed), which also includes the pigs, cows, antelopes, sheep, goats, camels and hippos. And they are members of the family Cervidae, which also contains the moose and caribou.
Identification
White-tailed deer have long legs and narrow hooves, which make them swift runners and good jumpers. They have excellent hearing due to their large, sensitive ears. Their short tail stands erect when alarmed, displaying white fur on the underside.
The typical weight of an adult buck (male) is 100 to 250 pounds with a shoulder height of 3½ to 4 feet. The doe is smaller and weighs in much lighter at 70 to 150 pounds. Mature males' antlers have a main branch 30 inches long with tines growing upward every few inches. The antlers are shed each year after the breeding season.
During the summer males and females are a reddish brown above and white underneath, but their coat changes to a grayish-brown in the winter with longer, hollow hairs that provide insulation against the cold. At birth fawns are chestnut brown with white spots on their back and sides. These spots disappear during the first molt when the fawns are three or four months old.
Behavior
Much of Massachusetts is now ideal deer habitat. Deer prefer forest-edges close to both fields, where they forage for food, and woodlands, where they find shelter and breed. They regularly visit ponds, lakes, and streams. The home range of a deer is usually 2 to 3 square miles, but they will move beyond this range if food supplies become scarce.
Three phrases are often referred to when it comes to deer activity: deer yards, bedding areas, and deer runs.
In winter, bucks, does, and fawns gather together in "deer yards:" sheltered locations frequently under stands of coniferous trees. It is believed that this behavior helps them survive severe weather conditions by conserving body heat and discouraging predation. They reduce their food intake during the winter by 30 percent and activity by 50 percent. Therefore they usually browse within close proximity to the deer yard.
“Bedding area” are the locations frequented by deer during their daily inactive periods that provide protection and cover. Those used during the day may be secluded areas on high ridges where they can watch for predators. At night they will use dense thickets and groves of evergreen trees, which offer protection as well as shelter from the wind.
The network of trails connecting the bedding areas or deer yards to feeding areas are called feeding trails or “deer runs.” If food sources remain good, these trails can be used for many years.
Food & Digestive System
Deer are herbivores, and they consume an amazing variety of plant material, mostly at dawn and dusk. They browse on the buds, leaves, and tender shoots of woody plants, as well as berries, fruit, and grains. The also eat acorns and other available nuts, bark, lichens and mushrooms.
In winter, when food is more limited, they commonly browse on American yew, eastern hemlock, apple, black cherry, maples, red oak, and a variety of other trees and shrubs. It is during this lean season that they often leave the protection of the woodlands to browse on ornamental shrubs in suburban yards.
Deer belong to a suborder of hoofed animals called ruminants, i.e. cud-chewing animals. The stomach of ruminants is divided into four chambers. The food enters the first two chambers where it is partially digested. When these stomachs are full, the deer settles down and regurgitates the partially digested food called "cud" into its mouth.
There it is chewed again, and enters stomachs three and four where it is digested completely. This system allows the deer to take in large amounts of food and return to cover quickly, thus avoiding predators.
Life Cycle
The mating or "rutting" season takes place in the fall. During the rest of the year the males and females live in separate groups. In August and September male groups disband to search for females. In New England, mating usually takes place in November or early December, after which the does return to their maternal groups.
Most fawns are born in May or June, after a 200-day gestation period. A doe giving birth for the first time will usually produce one offspring, but in subsequent years she gives birth to two, and occasionally three young. Although some does may be as young as six months when they reach sexual maturity, the average age is 18 months.
During the first week of life, fawns are left alone except when the mother returns to nurse. When lying motionless in the leaves, they are well camouflaged with their reddish brown coat and white spots, blending with dappled sunlight the forest floor. By the following spring the fawn is a yearling.
While its mother is raising her new offspring the yearling goes off and feeds, but stays in the area and returns to the mother for the fall and winter. The following spring the fawns leave the mother for good, the males joining buck groups and the females joining does.
Population in Massachusetts
According to Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, there is approximately 85,000 to 95,000 deer statewide, with densities ranging from about 10 per square mile in northwestern Massachusetts to 45 to 55 per square mile on Nantucket Island.
Yet in the early 1900's, there were fewer than 1,000 deer in Massachusetts. The population boom in recent decades can be attributed largely to two reasons:
- The reforested but suburbanized Massachusetts landscape, which is ideal deer habitat. It provides shelter, breeding areas in fragmented woodlands that are interspersed with open areas, and delicious (for deer) ornamental shrubbery.
- Predation continues to decline with recreational hunting losing popularity in rapidly growing developed areas.
Situations & Solutions
The white-tailed deer has become controversial because of its burgeoning population. Deer not only do damage to trees, shrubs, and gardens, but can pose a health and safety risk.
Damage Caused by Deer
When deer feed on shrubs or saplings their damage can be identified by the torn or ragged appearance at the end of branches. Their droppings and hoof prints are usually visible in feeding areas.
Fencing
Fencing is the best long-term solution for coping with deer on property where they are not welcome. You can either fence the whole property to keep the deer from entering, or place fencing around individual plantings.
- Whole Property: Fencing must be at least 8 feet high and angled outward from the property to prevent the deer from jumping over. It should be constructed of heavy netting, fox wire, chicken wire, or rows of wire spaced 12 inches apart.
- Individual Plants: When only a few plants need protecting, place 6-foot high stakes around the plants and wrap with chicken wire, bird netting (found at nurseries or farm supply stores), or burlap to discourage the deer.
Repellents
Repellents can be sprayed on plants and shrubs to protect them from browsing deer, but the expense of these products makes them practical only to protect valuable shrubs and not a whole property.
Two repellents that work well to discourage deer are Big Game Repellent (BGR), made with egg solids and Hinder, made with ammonium soaps. Remember that repellents must be reapplied periodically to be effective and that deer are capable of browsing on plants at a height of six feet.
Homemade Remedies
Another option to stop deer from nibbling on shrubs is to hang bars of soap on the branches. Studies indicate that Dial and Irish Spring seem to be the most successful in repelling deer. Cut the bars of soap in halves or thirds and, using string or mesh bags, hang on branches three feet apart.
Reasons Not to Feed Deer
People often believe that by providing an alternative food, such as hay, the deer will be discouraged from eating shrubs. This is rarely the case. They will eat what is offered and move on to the shrubs to add variety to their diet.
It is dangerous to the deer, as well as humans, to encourage deer to visit yards. This is especially in suburban areas where the deer often have to cross over busy roads, putting themselves and drivers at risk.
In addition, deer are not able to digest the corn and pellets often fed to them by people. While they don’t receive nutrients, they do feel full causing them to stop eating more beneficial foods.
Fawns Mistaken as Orphans
People encountering fawns during the first weeks after birth often assume the fawn is orphaned, remove it from the area (and its mother) and take it to a wildlife rehabilitation center to be cared for. The result is that thousand of fawns across the country are needlessly orphaned each spring and have to be euthanized.
People often believe that by providing an alternative food, such as hay, the deer will be discouraged from eating shrubs. This is rarely the case. They will eat what is offered and move on to the shrubs to add variety to their diet.
It is dangerous to the deer, as well as humans, to encourage deer to visit yards. This is especially in suburban areas where the deer often have to cross over busy roads, putting themselves and drivers at risk.
In addition, deer are not able to digest the corn and pellets often fed to them by people. While they don’t receive nutrients, they do feel full causing them to stop eating more beneficial foods.
Salvage Permits
The number of deer/car collisions in Massachusetts is estimated to at between 2,000 and 3,000 a year. Of those, the driver or passenger claims 400 to 600.
A permit to salvage a road-killed deer can be issued only to the driver or a passenger of the responsible vehicle, provided they are residents of Massachusetts. Before a salvage permit is issued an eligible person must comply with the following procedures:
- Notify local police of the accident to verify the animal's cause of death
- Within 24 hours of the accident notify the Environmental Police at 800-632-8075 of the intent to salvage the carcass and provide name and address and the time and place that the deer was killed.
- The deer carcass must then be transported, within 48 hours, to a field office of the Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, the Division of Law Enforcement, or to and Environmental Police Officer (EPO) at time and place agreed upon.
- The EPO or field office director will then tag the deer and issue a salvage permit. The tag must remain on the deer until all edible parts are consumed.
A salvage deer permit does not allow the deer carcass, or parts thereof, to be sold, traded, or exchanged.
Deer & Public Health
Deer are a favorite host of deer ticks (Ixodes dammini), which carry and transmit lyme disease. Learn more about Lyme disease and how to prevent it.
Deer & the Law
Relocating wildlife is illegal in Massachusetts. It is detrimental to the well being of wildlife as well as the public. Learn More