Embed Size (px)
DESCRIPTION
Citation preview
Katie Eckleberry
Educ. 373 Sandrick
Inquiry 4
Deer
My fiancé lives and breathes hunting and
fishing, therefore I have been drawn into
taking part in those activities. We hunt
everything from deer to goose, dove, duck and
on and on. Therefore, I thought it would be
interesting to research one of the animals that
we hunt. I am choosing to inquire about deer.
My Experience:
What are deer antlers made out of?
What are the antlers used for?
What is the life span of a deer?
What does a deer’s diet consist of?
Do deer have a certain time of year that they
reproduce?
Questions:
All male deer have antlers that are shed and re-grown every year
from a structure called a pedicle. Sometimes a female will have a
small stub. The only female deer with antlers are Reindeer. Antlers
grow as highly vascular spongy tissue covered in a skin called
velvet. Before the beginning of a species' mating season, the
antlers calcify under the velvet and become hard bone. The velvet
is then rubbed off leaving dead bone which forms the hard antlers.
After the mating season, the pedicle and the antler base are
separated by a layer of softer tissue, and the antler falls off.
Antlers
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deer
http://www.infovisual.info/02/074_en.html
One way that many hunters are able to track main paths that the deer
travel on is because of their "rubs". A rub is used to deposit scent
from glands near the eye and forehead and physically mark territory.
During the mating season, bucks use their antlers to fight one another
for the opportunity to attract mates in a given herd. The two bucks
circle each other, bend back their legs, lower their heads, and charge.
Each species has its own characteristic antler structure – for example
white-tailed deer antlers include a series of tines sprouting upward
from a forward-curving main beam, while Fallow Deer and Moose
antlers are palmate, with a broad central portion.
How are antlers used?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deer
The lifespan of a whitetail is 11 to 12 years (17 to 20
years in captivity). But most free-roaming deer never
live that long; they are hit by cars, succumb to disease,
killed by predators or shot by hunters. In heavily
hunted areas, many bucks live only 1½ or 2 ½ years.
Deer grow to about 6 feet long and stand 3 to 4 feet
high. They are reddish or grayish in color, depending
on their habitat and the time of year. The weight of
whitetails varies, from 100 to more than 300 pounds.
Life Span
http://www.deer.com/
The white-tailed deer is a ruminant, which means it has a four-
chambered stomach. Each chamber has a different and specific function
that allows the deer to quickly eat a variety of different food, digesting
it at a later time in a safe area of cover.
Whitetail deer eat large varieties of food, commonly eating legumes and
foraging on other plants, including shoots, leaves, cactus, and grasses.
They also eat acorns, fruit, and corn. Their special stomach allows them
to eat some things that humans cannot, such as mushrooms that are
poisonous to humans and Red Sumac.
Their diet varies in the seasons according to availability of food sources.
They will also eat hay and other food that they can find in a farm yard.
Diet
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White-tailed_deer
Females enter estrus, also called the rut, in the fall,
normally in late October or early November, triggered
mainly by declining photoperiod. Sexual maturation
of females depends on population density. Females
can mature in their first year, although this is unusual
and would occur only at very low population levels.
Most females mature at 1–2 years of age. Most are
not able to reproduce until six months after they
mature.
Rut
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White-tailed_deer
Males compete for the opportunity of breeding females. Sparring
among males determines a dominance hierarchy. Bucks will
attempt to breed with as many females as possible, losing physical
condition since they rarely eat or rest during the rut. There are
many factors as to how intense the "rutting season" will be. Air
temperature is one major factor of this intensity. Any time the
temperature rises above 40 degrees Fahrenheit, the males will do
much less traveling looking for females, or they will be subject to
overheating or dehydrating. Another factor for the strength in
rutting activity is competition. If there are numerous males in a
particular area, then they will compete more for the females.
Breeding Competition
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White-tailed_deer
White-tailed deer communicate in many different ways using sounds,
scent, body language, and marking. All white-tailed 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. 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 in their grunt-
snort-wheeze pattern that often shows aggression and hostility.
White-tailed deer communicate is with their white tail. When a white-
tailed deer is spooked it will raise its tail to warn the other deer in the
area that can see them.
Communication
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White-tailed_deer
Chart:http://www.infovisual.info/02/074_en.html
Pictures:http://www.teachersparadise.com/ency/en/medi
a/b/b7/white_tailed_deer.jpgwww.facebook.com
Background Info:http://www.deer.com/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White-tailed_deer
Resources
