White-tailed deer, also known as “whitetail deer,” or “Virginia deer,” are an extremely common American mammal. These deer are the most widespread wild ungulate, or hoofed mammal, in the Americas. These frequently sighted animals have a number of sub-species throughout their range. Read on to learn about the whitetail deer.

Description of the Whitetail Deer

Whitetails range in color from reddish brown in warmer months, to grey in the winter and fall. The most recognizable characteristic is the deer’s white under-tail, which is visible when the tail is raised. The males, known as “bucks,” grow new antlers yearly. It is extremely rare for the does (female deer) to grow antlers.

Interesting Facts About the Whitetail Deer

While virtually everyone in the central and eastern United States has seen a white-tailed deer, most people know very little about them. There are a number of interesting tidbits about whitetail deer.

Bergmann’s Rule – Though there are exceptions, white-tailed deer typically follow the Bergmann’s rule, which states that the average size of an animal increases the farther away you get from the equator. The average weight of an adult male white-tailed deer is about 150 lbs., but in the northernmost end of their range the deer can exceed 250 lbs.!

Substantial Subspecies – Scientists estimate that there may be between 30 and 40 sub species of whitetail deer across their range. Some examples include the Columbian white-tailed deer, and the Florida key deer. Both of these sub species are listed as endangered on the S. Endangered Species Act.

Not-so-Camouflaged Camo – Despite the popularity of wearing intricate camouflage while hunting deer, safety-color orange shirts and hats work just as well as fancy leaf patterns! Whitetail deer have dichromatic vision, meaning that they see blue and yellow colors the best. This also means that they are very poor at distinguishing orange and red colors.

Velvet Cover – White-tailed deer bucks shed their antlers every year, and grow a new pair. The growing antlers take time to develop, and during this time a soft skin called “velvet” protects them. The velvet is filled with many veins, which supply blood to the antlers, allowing rapid growth to occur. Once the antlers are fully-grown, the velvet dries out and is shed.

Habitat of the Whitetail Deer

White-tail deer are extremely common and widespread because they are generalists. This means that they can adapt to a wide range of habitats. They are commonly found in temperate forests, partially wooded lowlands, open prairies, savannahs, mountains, tropical forests, and wetlands.

Distribution of the Whitetail Deer

In North America, whitetail deer can be found as far north as Canada, and as far south as Mexico. Their range spreads all the way to the eastern coast of the United States. They can also be seen across Central America, and into the northern edges of South America into Peru.

Diet of the Whitetail Deer

White-tailed deer eat a wide variety of vegetation. They frequently feed on legumes, including alfalfa and clover, but will also eat the shoots and leaves of many other plants and grasses. In desert habitats they will also feed on cactus. Whitetails have also been known to eat fruit, corn, acorns, mushrooms, and poison ivy.

Horns or Antlers?

Many people incorrectly refer to deer antlers as “horns,” but horns and antlers are extremely different. While deer, elk, and moose have antlers, cows, sheep, bison, and buffalo have horns.

Horns

Horns are made with a base of bone growing from the skull of the animal, similar to antlers. A sheath of keratin, the same material that makes up your fingernails and hair, covers the base of bone. The horns grow continuously throughout the animal’s life, and are never shed. Because the horns are live bone and keratin, they will bleed if broken.

Antlers

Antlers are shed every year, and will regrow. They are made entirely of bone. Antlers have no center “core,” consisting instead of a single structure of hardened bone.

Whitetail Deer and Human Interaction

Deer and humans have multiple negative interactions. Humans hunt deer, both for sustenance, as trophies or sport, and to control deer populations. Overgrown deer populations can cause the spread of disease, and vulnerable plant species to be decimated. Deer are also kept as livestock in a number of countries for their meat, antlers, and fur. Deer cause millions of car collisions each year, an increasingly serious problem in the United States.

Domestication

Farmed populations of whitetail deer have been domesticated to some extent. While they are not fully domesticated, like cattle or sheep, they have undergone selective breeding. When farming deer, farmers selectively breed docile individuals with good meat production, and large antlers.

Whitetail Deer Care

White-tailed deer must be provided with a large enclosure that allows for plenty of foraging. The fence should be at least eight feet tall, as deer are extremely proficient jumpers. Their diet should also be supplemented with vitamins and minerals, as well as additional vegetation if their habitat does not provide enough for them to maintain their weight.

Behavior of the Whitetail Deer

Bucks will compete amongst one another to determine a dominance hierarchy. More dominant males are able to reproduce with more females. During the breeding season, known as “rut,” the males will battle and attempt to breed with as many females as possible. During this time, they will lose significant amounts of weight, as they rarely eat or rest.

Reproduction of the Whitetail Deer

Females become receptive to mating in late October and early November, and they will give birth in May or June. She will give birth to 1 to 3 baby deer, called “fawns,” and nurse them for 8-10 weeks. Young bucks will stay with their mothers for about one year, and females will stay for two years.

SOURCE: ANIMALS.NET

Ringtails are cat-like mammals that are related to raccoons. Many people also call them “ringtail cats,” “ring-tailed cats,” “bassarisks,” and “miner’s cats.” While they are not genetically related to cats, they do look quite similar to felines. Instead, ringtails are in the Procyonidae family, along with raccoons, kinkajous, coatis, and olingos.

Description of the Ringtail

These cat-like mammals have buff-brown fur, with relatively large ears, and a long tail. As their name suggests, their tail has black and white rings, much like raccoons and coatis have.

Their tail is usually just as long as their body, between 12 and 17 in. long. With body and tail combined, ringtails measure around 24 – 34 in. long. However, they are lean creatures, and typically weigh around 2 lbs.

Interesting Facts About the Ringtail

Ringtails are interesting looking creatures, with interesting behavior and traits. There are a number of different fun facts about ringtails, read a few below!

Miner’s Cat – One of the more unusual nicknames of the ringtail is the miner’s cat. During the 1800s, miners in Arizona and California commonly kept these creatures as pets. Apparently, the miners were quite fond of their ringtail companions because they were wonderfully efficient mouse catchers!

Musky Mouthful– Ringtails are usually smaller than the average housecat, and half of their length is tail alone. Because of this, they commonly fall prey to many different predators. To avoid becoming lunch, ringtails excrete a strong-smelling musk when startled. This musk confuses and deters many different predators.

Cat-Like Climbers – Ringtails may look a little like cats, but they sure can climb better than most housecats! They can rotate their ankles over 180º, which allows them to climb up and down trees easily. Ringtails can even change direction on a branch by doing a cartwheel!

Striped Tail – This mammal’s long tail is not just for show. While their tail is not prehensile, and they cannot use it to grip branches, it is still quite useful. Ringtails use their tails to help them balance while climbing. Because their tail is so long, it works very efficiently as a counterbalance.

Habitat of the Ringtail

While these creatures live in a few different types of habitats, they live in arid environments most frequently. Rocky deserts are their favorite, but they also live in desert-like habitats near water sources. In these ecosystems, they nest in abandoned structures, mineshafts, hollow trees, caves, and more. These mammals also live in pine, conifer, and juniper forests with low rainfall.

Distribution of the Ringtail

Ringtails live in the Southwestern United States and across Mexico. Populations live in southern Oregon, California, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, parts of Kansas, and Texas.

Its range in Mexico is from the United States border south to Oaxaca. They are widespread in Mexico, but their distribution in the northern ends of their range is rather spotty.

Diet of the Ringtail

Ringtails are omnivores, but most of their diet consists of animals rather than plants. Their primary prey includes mice, rats, rabbits, ground squirrels, insects, and other small mammals.

Some less common food sources include fish, snakes, birds, lizards, and carrion. They also eat fruit, and some of their favorites include prickly pear, juniper, blackberries, hack, persimmon, and more. Their diet changes based upon the availability of food, for example, when mice are plentiful, they eat more mice.

Ringtail and Human Interaction

Humans and ringtails actually lived quite harmoniously. Because miners recognized their ability to catch mice and other pests, they often kept the creatures as pets.

Nowadays, it is illegal to own a ringtail as a pet without proper permits, though humans still acknowledge them as pest control. As with any animal, habitat destruction can be a problem, but their population is stable. The IUCN lists these animals as Least Concern.

Domestication

Though humans commonly kept these creatures as pets, they never formally domesticated ringtails.

Does the Ringtail Make a Good Pet

Ringtails did make good pets to miners, but that was because there were plenty of vermin for them to hunt. In a typical household, ringtails would not make good pets, simply because there wouldn’t be enough for them to do.

These creatures are wild animals, and when miners kept them as pets, they slept during the day, and hunted for vermin at night. Their relationship was really more of a partnership than anything. The miners provided safe nests to sleep in, and the ringtails hunted the pesky mice.

Ringtail Care

In zoos, ringtails need a little more stimulation, because they can’t exactly let them out to hunt mice at night. Instead, the zookeepers give the little predators a variety of puzzles, new scents, and fun toys, as well as training them using positive reinforcement.

These animals eat a diet of small mammals, like mice, rats, rabbits, and more. Because their natural diet also contains fruit, zookeepers give them a variety of fruits as treats. Their habitats have plenty of hiding places, and a variety of objects to climb and exercise on.

Behavior of the Ringtail

These little mammals are relatively similar to their raccoon cousins. They are nocturnal and active at night, and live alone. Unlike raccoons, ringtails are relatively shy, and avoid human contact.

Rather than roaming suburbs for garbage, these creatures actively spend their nights hunting small prey. They spend the rest of their time marking the boundaries of their territories. Males and females have overlapping territories, but they rarely interact outside of breeding season.

Reproduction of the Ringtail

Females are only receptive to mates in the spring. After mating, the male brings the female food during her 45 – 50 day gestation period. The female usually gives birth to 2 – 4 offspring, called “cubs.”

It takes a month for the cubs to open their eyes, and they will not learn to hunt until they are 4 months old. Once the cubs are 10 months old, they can reproduce themselves, and leave their mother.

SOURCE: ANIMALS.NET