North Idaho Deer

1. North Idaho Deer Hooved Animals

2. Mule Deer Odocoileushemionus

3. Identification • Large “mule” like ears (where they get their name). • Brownish Grey in color. • Have a white rump patch. • Small white tail with a black tip. • The antlers split off from the main branch forming two branches, each branch has 2 or more tines. *Tine : The pointed branch of a deer's antler.

4. Size • Height: 3 to 3.5 feet tall at the shoulder • Length: 4.5 to 7 feet long • Tail: 5 to 8 inches long • Weight: 130 to 280lbs *Females are smaller than males

5. Habitat • Can be found throughout desert regions as long as food supply and vegetation permits. • Move to higher elevation during summertime. • Move to lower elevation during wintertime. • Also found in mountain forests, wooded hills and chaparral. *Chaparral: A dense thicket of bushes or small trees.

6. Range • Throughout the entire Western United States.

7. Diet • Herbivores • Eat a variety of vegetation. Including : mesquite leaves, beans, fairy duster, jojoba, cat claw, buck bush and other shrubs and grasses. • Mule Deer have no upper teeth, just a hard pallet.

8. White Tail Deer Odocoileusvirginianus

9. Identification • Distinct, long “white tail”. • Smallest Members of the North American Deer. • Reddish brown coats in the summer. • Duller greyish brown in the winter.

10. Size • Height: 3-31/2 ft. • Length: • Weight: Male- 75-400lb Female- 50-250lb

11. Habitat • Forests • Swamps • Brushy Areas • Mountains in winter for protection.

12. Range • Southern Canada through United States • Except for most of California, Nevada, and Utah and south to Panama.

13. Black Tail Deer Odocoileushemionuscolumbianus

14. Diet • Spring/summer: grasses and forbs • Fall: acorns, other mast items, and apples • Winter: twigs and buds from a wide variety of hardwood trees and leaves from conifer trees such as white pine and hemlock.

15. Identification • Large tail with black brown hairs “Black Tail” • Smaller than mule deer and white tail • Antlers similar to Mule Deer • Almost no rump patch

16. Size • Males: weigh from 105 to 200 lb. • Females: weigh between 90 to 140 lb. • Males :total length 58 inches- 36 inches high at the shoulder- 6 1/2-inch tail 8-inch ears • Females: total length- 54 inches - 36 inches high at the shoulder -6 1/2-inch tail - 7 3/4-inch ear

17. Habitat • Old-growth forests are important for blacktails, as the habitat provides shelter and forage, and also stops buildups of deep, heavy snow. • In the southern parts of their range, old growth is less important due to abundant open areas and milder climate. Blacktails are browsers in winter and early spring and then mix in grasses and a wide variety of herbs, as well as browse, in summer and fall. • Winter ranges are often shared with Roosevelt elk.

18. Range • Found in the Pacific Northwest, especially in Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia.

19. Diet • Tender grasses, new leaves, herbs and the tips of branches during the spring and summer months. This is the key foraging time for building up essential fat for the fall rut and winter stress periods. • During winter: Douglas fir, trailing blackberry, salal branches, red huckleberry, Organ yew and western cedar.