Friday, December 5, 2008

White-tailed deer

The White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), also known as the Virginia deer, or simply as the whitetail, is a medium-sized deer native to most of the United States, Canada, Mexico, Central America, and northern portions of South America as far south as Peru.Whitetails communicate in many different ways including sounds, scent, body language, and marking. All whitetail deer are capable of producing audible noises, unique to each animal. Fawns release a high pitched squeal, known as a bleat, to call out to their mothers. Does also bleat. Grunting produces a low, guttural sound that will attract the attention of any other deer in the area. Both does and bucks snort, a sound that often signals danger. As well as snorting, bucks also grunt at a pitch that gets lower with maturity. Bucks are unique, however, in their grunt-snort-wheeze pattern that often shows aggression and hostility. Another way whitetail deer communicate is with their white tail. When a white-tail deer is spooked it will raise its tail to warn the other deer in the area that can see them.

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