![[A photo of a white-tailed deer running through New Germany State Park and a drawing of one jumping a log.]](wtailpics.gif)
What do they look like?White-tailed deer are 3-3 ½ feet tall at the shoulder and weigh 50-250 pounds. Males are larger than females and grow antlers from March-August. Antlers are shed in late winter. On rare occasions, a female will grow antlers. The deer coat is reddish brown in the summer and grayish brown in the winter. Fawns are reddish brown with white spots.
Where are they found?
White-tailed deer are very abundant and are found throughout Maryland in forests, farms, wetlands, parks, open areas, and suburban areas.
What do they eat?
White-tailed deer are browsers and grazers. They eat the twigs, buds and leaves of a wide variety of plants, including greenbrier, poison ivy, wildflowers, honeysuckle and oak seedlings. They feed on acorns, fruits and agricultural crops such as corn and soybeans.
What other kind of deer live in Maryland?
The white-tailed deer is the only native deer in Maryland. The sika deer is an introduced elk from Asia. They are found in Dorchester, Somerset, Wicomico, and Worcester counties.
I didn't know that?
White-tailed deer are more numerous today than prior to European settlement of North America. In pre-colonial times, they were prey for wolves and mountain lions. Native Americans hunted white-tailed deer all year round. Today, man is the only predator of white-tailed deer in Maryland.
For additional information about deer growth check out Antlers tell much about deer.
Drawing by: W.H. Henry
Photograph by Anthony Burrows