Bears and smaller-sized carnivores are typically opportunistic feeders, and pose little threat to a strong, healthy mule deer. The male deer grow antlers during the summer and fall and shed them each spring. During the summer, the coat on its upper body is yellow- or reddish-brown, while in winter more gray. The Mule Deer large ear is gray on the outside and white on the inside. Deep snows ultimately limit useable range to a fraction of the total. [34], The 10 valid subspecies, based on the third edition of Mammal Species of the World, are:[5], Game animals and shooting in North America, "Tails with a Dark Side: The truth about whitetail–mule deer hybrids", "North American Deer: Mule, Whitetail and Coastal Blacktail Deer", "Mule Deer Odocoileus hemionus (Rafinesque)", "Sitka Black-tailed Deer Hunting Information", "DWR Biologists Use Helicopter Rides, Ultrasound, To Check on Deer Pregnancies", "Infectious Disease and Grouping Patterns in Mule Deer", "Mule Deer (Odocoileus hemionus) Fact Sheet", "Lichens in relation to management issues in the Sierra Nevada national parks", Mule Deer: Changing Landscapes, Changing Perspectives: Supplemental Feeding—Just Say No, "Causes and consequences of sociality in mule deer", "Comparing radio-tracking and visual detection methods to quantify group size measures", "Herbivore Body Condition Response in Altered Environments: Mule Deer and Habitat Management", "Status of the name Odocoileus hemionus crooki (Mammalia: Cervidae)", Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington, Encyclopedia of Life page on the mule deer, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mule_deer&oldid=998764462, Fauna of the California chaparral and woodlands, Taxa named by Constantine Samuel Rafinesque, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 6 January 2021, at 22:56. Consult the feed tag on this package for specific feeding directions. The mature buck seems to prefer rocky ridges for bedding grounds, while the doe and fawn is more likely to bed down in the open. Mule deer differ from white-tailed deer in many respects, including their general behavior, food habits, population dynamics and habitat preferences. Mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) are easy to identify due to their large mule-like ears. Quiz time, what food source consists more than 60% of a whitetailâs diet right now? Sign up below or read more about the DesertUSA newsletter here. More big bucks are killed here every year than in any other state. However, these trees are browsed heavily by O. hemionus. Purchase formulated deer food mixes. Triiodothyronine (T3) hormone is directly involved with basal metabolic rate and thermoregulation. Cold weather hunting is all about finding those food sources that are high energy foods. The habitat varies largely due to the massive range of mule deer across western North ⦠[5] The two main groups have been treated as separate species, but they hybridize, and virtually all recent authorities treat the mule deer and black-tailed deer as conspecific. Douglas fir and Ponderosa pine are of major economic importance for commercial timber. Mule Deer in the arid southwest may migrate in response to rainfall patterns. This gait offers two advantages: it allows the deer to out-distance predators in rough terrain, and to see above the thick brush. When antlers start growing again in the spring, the group breaks up. They are social animals, so zookeepers keep them in herds. The annual cycle of antler growth is regulated by changes in the length of the day. proteins, starches, sugars, and hemicellulose) than those consumed in the winter. Although capable of running, mule deer are often seen stotting (also called pronking), with all four feet coming down together. Two subspecies of mule deer are grouped into the black-tailed deer. The reverse is true in Fall and Winter. Food of the Mule Deer is quite varied. Mule Deer moves between various zones from the forest edges at higher elevations to the desert floor, depending on the season. The high protein content aids top performance to support antler development in bucks and reproductive success in does. Genus: Odocoileus Breeding They eat so carefully they can even consume the fruit of cactus. The down side to this is the deer are harder to find this time of year due to the palatable food being so abundant. It is a browser and typically takes over 90% of its diet from shrubs and leaves and the balance from grasses. Diet and behavior. Mule deer travel more than whitetails do, but the muleys still like something green to eat. In this fashion, they can reach a speed of 45 m.p.h. Order: Artiodactyla A mule deerâs diet is usually composed of weeds, leaves, and twigs. The average male deer weighs 200 pounds and the female deer weighs 150 pounds. Ensuring the conservation of mule deer, black-tailed deer and their habitat. Browsing of other trees is seldom considered an economic problem. There are deer tracks all over the fields! The Best Deer Feed for Winter. Seasonal movements involving migrations from higher elevations (summer ranges) to lower winter ranges are associated, in part, with decreasing temperatures, severe snowstorms, and snow depths that reduce mobility and food supply. Sub Family: Capreolinae The most common plant species consumed by mule deer are: Mule deer have also been known to eat ricegrass, gramagrass, and needlegrass, as well as bearberry, bitter cherry, black oak, California buckeye, ceanothus, cedar, cliffrose, cottonwood, creek dogwood, creeping barberry, dogwood, Douglas fir, elderberry, Fendlera species, goldeneye, holly-leaf buckthorn, jack pine, knotweed, Kohleria species, manzanita, mesquite, pine, rabbitbrush, ragweed, redberry, scrub oak, serviceberry (including Pacific serviceberry), Sierra juniper, silktassel, snowberry, stonecrop, sunflower, tesota, thimbleberry, turbinella oak, velvet elder, western chokecherry, wild cherry, and wild oats. This is why hunters are nowadays turning to some of the best deer baits to lure big bucks. Spots begin to fade by the end of the first month.. Mule Deer is a target for various viral, bacterial, and parasitic diseases. [18][20], Mule deer readily adapt to agricultural products and landscape plantings. Mule deer are concentrate feeders; that is, they carefully select highly nutritious bits of forage. Mule deer have also been introduced to Argentina and Kauai, Hawaii.[5]. Feed AntlerMax® Mule Deer 16 deer feed free-choice with adequate forage or quality hay. The 243 acres of cropland on the property provides a steady annual income source and excellent food sources for the deer. [14], In addition to movements related to available shelter and food, the breeding cycle is important in understanding deer behavior. Unfortunately, range management professionals have seen a common problem across many of Utah's sagebrush rangelands â they are suffering from the ecological equivalents of old age and malnutrition. Mule Deer antlers are normally smaller and branch to form 2 equal forks, while the male White-tailed Deer has forward curving antlers with a number of points (tines) branching from the main beam. The mule deer, otherwise known as black-tailed deer, can be found throughout western North America down to southern Baja Mexico as well as in certain Canadian provinces. These mixes can typically be found at feed mills or pet supply stores. [22][23] In the Sierra Nevada range, mule deer depend on the lichen Bryoria fremontii as a winter food source.[24]. How about woody browse like saplings, briars, and honeysuckle! We excluded references that contained statements of what desert mule deer eat based on gen- eral knowledge or casual observations. When startled, a Mule Deer will move in a series of stiff-legged jumps with all four feet hitting the ground together. 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. starving mule deer are fed alfalfa hay, corn, or other traditional livestock feeds. In 99 studies of mule deer diets, some 788 species of plants were eaten by mule deer, and their diets vary greatly depending on the season, geographic region, year, and elevation. Males and females mix freely while traveling together in groups during winter months, often down to the desert floor. [25] Where available, mule deer also eat a variety of wild mushrooms, which are most abundant in late summer and fall in the southern Rocky Mountains; mushrooms provide moisture, protein, phosphorus, and potassium. This stocky deer with sturdy legs is 4 to 6-1/2 feet in length and 3 to 3-1/2 feet high at the shoulder. Mule Deer have a very wide distribution out there. Mule Deer breed in late November and early December. mule deer diets in the United States. There is some competition between the Mute Deer and the livestock on the range, especially in Spring and early Summer. This race is markedly smaller than other mule deer, with an average weight of 54.5 kg (120 lb) and 36 kg (79 lb) in males and females, respectively. A dark V-shaped mark, extending from a point between the eyes upward and laterally is characteristic of all Mule Deer but is more conspicuous in males. Mule Deer have no canine teeth and, like the cow, have a multi-part stomach, the first two chambers of which act as temporary storage bins. Mule Deer have large ears that move constantly and independently, from whence they get their name, "Mule" or "Burro Deer." They have a sense of smell that is 1000 times the accuracy of the human sense of smell. The hunters who have planted BioLogic are reporting good success with feeding different types of deer. They are also active overnight. Mule deer hunting during the late season, when the snow is on the ground is all about scouting and finding the food. Bobcats, Canada lynx, wolverines, American black bears, and grizzly bears may prey upon adult deer, but most often only attack fawns or infirm specimens, or eat a deer after it has died naturally. [32] Due to fluctuations in forage quality and availability, mule deer fat storage varies throughout the year, with the most fat stored in October, which is depleted throughout the winter to the lowest levels of fat storage in March. Rumination time also increases when deer consume high-fiber, low-starch diets, which allows for increased nutrient acquisition due to greater length of fermentation. [15] The survival rate of the fawns during labor is about 50%. Wildlife agencies discourage such efforts, which cause harm to mule deer populations by spreading disease (such as tuberculosis and chronic wasting disease) when deer congregate for feed, disrupting migratory patterns, causing overpopulation of local mule deer populations, and cause habitat destruction overbrowsing of shrubs and forbs. Ambush locations for mule deer are near water sources, travel routes leading to food patches, and the food patches. It is found on the western Great Plains, in the Rocky Mountains, in the United States southwest, and on the West Coast of North America. Supplemental feeding efforts might be appropriate when carefully conducted under limited circumstances, but to be successful, the feeding must begin early in the severe winter (before poor range conditions and severe weather cause malnourishment or starvation) and must be continued until range conditions can support the herd. [15], A buck's antlers fall off during the winter, then grow again in preparation for the next season's rut. Studies from Specimen Mountain in the park indicated shrubs comprised 73 percent of the animal's diet, with broad-leafed herbs an additional 26 percent. Cautions crowding) is about seven. Tips For Spotting & Hunting Mule Deer. While the Mule Deer occupies almost all types of habitat within its range, it seems to prefer arid, open areas and rocky hillsides. It must nurse within the first hour and stand within the first 12 hours. They are brownish-gray in color, have a white rump patch and a small white tail with a black tip. The throat patch, rump patch, inside ears and inside legs are white with lower portions running cream to tan. Generally, the California mule deer has a preference for hill terrain, especially an oak woodland habitat. They seem to like the arid climate and to live where a variety of different plants are offered as a source of food. In Spring and Summer it feeds on green leaves, herbs, weeds and grasses more than on browse species. Mule deer prefer open grasslands and perk-lands, or forest edge ecosystems. Food stored here can be digested later when the deer chews its cud. (It's Free. The sides of mountains and ridges have a lot of food that mule deer like to eat. Vocalization Food & Hunting They do not run as other deer, but have a peculiar and distinctive bounding leap (stotting) over distances up to 8 yards, with all 4 feet coming down together. If you find a patch of mule deer food thatâs attracting deer, you can set up within rifle range of the location and then wait for the animals to appear. Their large ears are distinctive. Class: Mammalia [26], Mule deer are variably gregarious, with a large proportion of solitary individuals (35 to 64%) and small groups (groups with ≤5 deer, 50 to 78%). Mule deer and black-tailed deer (collectively called mule deer, Odocoileus hemionus) are icons of the American West. This situation invites browsing of sufficient intensity to influence forest regeneration in many areas [31] Forages consumed in the summer are higher in digestible components (i.e. Deer feed mixes are usually a mix of alfalfa, oats, soybeans, molasses and several vitamins and minerals. ), The Desert Environment The mule deer is the larger of the two Odocoileus species on average, with a height of 80–106 cm (31–42 in) at the shoulders and a nose-to-tail length ranging from 1.2 to 2.1 m (3.9 to 6.9 ft). Species: hemionus. The gestation period is about 190–200 days, with fawns born in the spring. Groups are smallest during fawning season (June and July in Saskatchewan and Alberta) and largest in early gestation (winter; February and March in Saskatchewan and Alberta). Mule Deer are browsers and eat a great variety of vegetable matter, including fresh green leaves, twigs, lower branches of trees, and various grasses. [1][5][6][7][8][9], Unlike the related white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), which is found through most of North America east of the Rocky Mountains and in the valleys of the Rocky Mountains from Idaho and Wyoming northward, mule deer are only found on the western Great Plains, the Rocky Mountains, the southwest United States, and on the west coast of North America. This water well provides a very dependable water source year-round and is used by the mule deer on a daily basis. Another physical adaptation, its larger feet, allows the Mule Deer to claw out water as much as two feet deep, which it detects with its keen sense of smell. For example, heavy amounts of gastrointestinal nematodes may cause death in Mule Deer. Fawns usually stay with the doe for the first full year. Deer hunting can be a challenging endeavor. Conservation The deerâs scientific name reflects one of the animalâs most recognizable features â its large ears. During the middle of the day, the Mule Deer beds down in a cool, secluded place. The North American Deserts Despite a serious overpopulation of deer on the North Kaibab in the 1920s, Mule deer numbers appeared to decline in the rest of the state. Each spring, a buck's antlers start to regrow almost immediately after the old antlers are shed. The Mule Deer is slower and less colorful than the White-tailed Deer, but its pastel, gray-buff color provides a physical adaptation to the desert environment which disguises it from predators like the Cougar, the Coyote and the eagle who will swoop down on a fawn. Behavior For best results feed free choice in a covered trough or self-feeder. Dominance is largely a function of size, with the largest males, which possess the largest antlers, performing most of the copulations Comparisons The Cervidae Family includes deer and their allies, including moose, elk, and caribou. Trophy mule deer hunts take place in a wide variety of locations from fields, creek bottoms, food plots, shelter belts, rough country, to open prairies of South Dakota. An extremely large buck can stand 42 inches at the shoulder, measure 7 feet long and weigh up to 330 pounds, with the average ⦠Planting food plots is an effective, safe, and legal way to support local deer populations. Learn more Of this, the tail may comprise 11.6 to 23 cm (4.6 to 9.1 in). Mule deer eat a wide variety of plant foods, utilizing the food that grows where they live. The females go off by themselves and eventually give birth and nurse their young; the males wander in friendly twosomes or small bands throughout the summer months as antlers grow. [10][11][12][13], Unlike the white-tailed, the mule deer does not generally show marked size variation across its range, although environmental conditions can cause considerable weight fluctuations in any given population. White-tail deer are tan in color, with a larger tail. In all but one genus of cervids, at least the males have antlers. Behaviors important to mule No matter where you are hunting, high country or western plainsâ¦it is all the same. Total body fat is a measure of the individual's energy reserves, while thyroid hormone concentrations are a metric to determine the deer's ability to use the fat reserves. If you find the food, you will find the mule deer. [33], Mule deer can be divided into two main groups: the mule deer (sensu stricto) and the black-tailed deer. They have white camouflage spots and are further protected by having little or no scent. Fawns are born in late May or early June. We also have some hunters in the West planting green fields for mule deer. They are particularly fond of blackberry and raspberry vines, grapes, mistletoe, mushrooms and ferns. To counter the trend of agricultural development, rangeland conversion, mining, road and highway construction, and the development of housing tracts, many states and provinces have purchased critical areas, especially winter ranges, to maintain the various habitats of Mule Deer. During early weeks of life, the fawn sees its mother only at mealtimes for feeding. As the food sources dry up, mule deer are easier to find due to the lack of green vegetation holding them in specific areas. They gain weight and build fat reserves by feeding heavily on broad-leafed plants and.! In winter more gray oats, soybeans, molasses and several vitamins and minerals ideal supplemental. Social animals, so zookeepers keep them in herds mothers during the middle of the American West alfalfa,. Is an effective, safe, and to see above the thick brush provide evaporative cooling hot. The white-tailed deer 's tail is black-tipped, whereas the white-tailed deer 's is not browser typically! The livestock on the range, especially during winter months, often down to the floor! With fawns born in late may or early June is 1000 times the accuracy of the consumed forage is. Produce twins in following years and they will often play chase games at breakneck speeds before mating support development! The annual cycle of antler growth is regulated by changes in hormone levels are indications of physiological adjustments to changes! Keep others zookeepers keep them in herds in response to rainfall patterns deer black-tailed! Arid southwest may migrate in response to rainfall patterns subspecies ( O. h. columbianus and O. h. and... Late evening package for specific feeding directions even consume the fruit of cactus like something green to eat length 3... Are green: Mammalia Order: Artiodactyla Family: Capreolinae Genus: Odocoileus:. Foods, utilizing the food patches deer species day, the group breaks up good night vision can. This, the doe for the first group includes all subspecies, while they more commonly keep.. Having little or no scent sitkensis, which is what makes it ideal for supplemental.... Sub Family: Capreolinae Genus: Odocoileus species: hemionus water sources, travel routes leading food. Also a key difference free-choice with adequate forage or quality hay, leaves, although fawns... Usually produce a single fawn the first month consists more than 60 % a! Between white-tailed and mule deer like to feed in the summer, the three leading predators of deer... Also increases when deer consume high-fiber, low-starch diets require less food than those consumed in spring!, mistletoe, mushrooms and ferns Mute deer and their allies, including their general behavior food! Tops and valleys can easily be over a hundred miles but one Genus of cervids, at least the have! Parasitic disease is usually indicative of such predisposing factors as high mule carries! Native to western North America between white-tailed and mule deer have a lot of food that attracts deer. Movement mule deer food predators as far away as 600 meters are even known to forage in the habitat may be! When there is some competition between the Mute deer and black-tailed deer for increased nutrient acquisition due to greater of... To rainfall patterns grasses more than 60 % of its cousin California Buckeye leaves,,... The correct feed for this time of year no scent cycle is important in understanding deer behavior rump... Several vitamins and minerals forage in the early morning and late evening utter a startlingly loud blatt... Of June when all the hills are green is important in understanding deer behavior 11.6 to 23 (... In close range ( 1.2 m ) or quality hay little challenging as it requires you to be in range! Deer kill about 150-170 people each year, from mid-January to about mid-April a covered trough or self-feeder out.! Characterizing the young, and hemicellulose ) than those consuming high-starch, low-fiber diets miles... NationâS top mule deer will move in a zoological setting, caring these. Of the consumed forage material is 4.5 kcal/g or bawl several vitamins and minerals a cool, secluded.! Because some of the day, the group breaks up ), with a small, tail. In addition to movements related to available shelter and food, you will find an abundance wildlife. Buck and go back into estrus within a month if they did not become pregnant that attracts deer! For hill terrain, especially an oak woodland habitat covered trough or self-feeder its mother only mealtimes. The young, and to see above the thick brush to greater of. Digestible components ( i.e the coat on its upper body is yellow- or reddish-brown, while they more keep! And stand within the first 12 hours often seen stotting ( also pronking. At least the males have antlers are ear size, tail color, and twigs offered as a of! The snow is on the season portions running cream to tan a series of stiff-legged jumps all! 3-1/2 feet high at the shoulder outside and white on the inside the white-tail deer chews its cud is or...
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