White-tailed deer

The white-tailed deer is the most widely distributed and numerous of North America's large animals. Fully grown males stand about one metre high at the shoulder and might weigh 110 kilograms. Males have curved antlers with a number of projecting single points.

In summer, the deer are reddish on the back and sides and white on the underparts. In winter, the upper parts turn greyish. The deer's characteristic tail is often flourished over its back, showing the white underside.

White-tailed deer are often seen feeding alongside roads, lakes and rivers in Kejimkujik National Park. The fawns are born in late May to early June and by summer are feeding alongside their mothers. The bucks are more wary and are usually seen only during the breeding season in late October.

Park officers conduct a count of the park's white-tailed deer population in October. This has been completed every year since 1973. Some counts showed high populations of deer in the mid-1980s, the result of a series of mild winters. By 1987 colder winters led to a decline in the deer population.

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