White_-Tailed_Deer

White -Tailed Deer White-Tailed Deer Species Paper #1 Kingdom – Animalia Phylum – Chordata Class – Mammalia Order – Artiodactyla Family – Cervidae Genus – Odocileus Species – Odocileus virginianus INTRODUCTION: According to Richard Zwifel, author of The Encyclopedia of Animals, white-tailed deer, Odocileus virginianus, are one of the most common and wide- spread animals in North America. Scientists recognize 30 white-tail subspecies in North America, and another eight in South America. North America’s whitetail population is by far the most popular game animal in the U.S., chased by some 11 million hunters each fall. The can be found in almost every state in the U.S., including Maine, and on the Unity College campus. CHARACTERISTICS: Zwifel claims that deer grow to about six feet long and stand three to four 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. The lifespan of a whitetail is 11 to 12 years in the wild, 17 to 20 years in captivity. However, most free-roaming deer never live that long; they are hit by cars, die of disease, killed by predators, or shot by hunters. In heavily hunted areas, many bucks live deer, disease, however, bucks, white-tailed, predators, according, states, plants, north, hunters, fig, eat, claims, america, zwifel, years, winter, threat, species, size, rees, one, often, odocileus, lyme, live, hunted, heacox, deer’s, being, author, areas, antlers