One Antlered Deer

Here's an interesting white-tailed deer missing one of his antlers.

It's early for bucks to be losing their deciduous antlers.  Really early.  In most cases around here, they drop their antlers during the last week of January to the last week of March.  It's interesting, for sure, but stranger things have happened in the outdoors.

Why Do White-Tailed Deer Fawns Have White Spots?

Someone asked me this at one of my parks/wildlife jobs a few days ago, and I thought it would also be nice to put the answer on this blog.

Fawns (baby deer) have white spots on their backs. Take a look at the picture below from this past month.

The answer to this question is that fawns have spots because it helps them camouflage better in the woods.  

Fawns spend a lot of time laying down in grass and leaves that are under canopies of trees.  Sunlight comes through these trees in beams that make bright splotches on the forest floor.  The brown color of the deer's fur and the white splotches look similar to brown leaves and dirt mixing in with the sunlight that hits the forest bottom.

Summer Fawn

Spring is done and summer is upon the people and wildlife of Virginia.  We've had a couple of really hot and humid days here already, and today wasn't much of an exception.

The heat has begun, and the white-tailed does are out in full force eating grasses in meadows and tomato plants in your suburban garden.  

That's alright though because the does are working hard to produce enough nourishment for the fawns that have recently been born.

Even though northern Virginia has a ridiculous amount of white-tailed deer, it still is always satisfying to see fawns growing up throughout the rest of the year.

Antler Growing Season

It's antler growing season (and will be for the next couple of months) for white-tailed deer.  They'll grow them out, shed their velvety coat, and use them for battle in the winter.  Like spears, the antlers on the tops of white-tailed bucks heads are used for display and fighting.

Proper nutrition and genetic makeup is necessary for growing the biggest pair.

Here's one little buck starting that has been already growing his antlers since a few weeks ago.