White-tailed deer
The white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), also known commonly as the whitetail and the Virginia deer, is a medium-sized species of deer native to North America, Central America, and South America as far south as Peru and Bolivia, where it predominately inhabits high mountain terrains of the Andes.[3] It has also been introduced to New Zealand, all the Greater Antilles in the Caribbean (Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola, and Puerto Rico),[4] and some countries in Europe, such as the Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Romania and Serbia.[5][6] In the Americas, it is the most widely distributed wild ungulate.
In North America, the species is widely distributed east of the Rocky Mountains as well as in southwestern Arizona and most of Mexico, except Lower California. It is mostly displaced by the black-tailed or mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) from that point west except for mixed deciduous riparian corridors, river valley bottomlands, and lower foothills of the northern Rocky Mountain region from Wyoming west to eastern Washington and eastern Oregon and north to northeastern British Columbia and southern Yukon, including in the Montana valley and foothill grasslands. The westernmost population of the species, known as the Columbian white-tailed deer, was once widespread in the mixed forests along the Willamette and Cowlitz River valleys of western Oregon and southwestern Washington, but current numbers are considerably reduced, and it is classified as near-threatened. This population is separated from other white-tailed deer populations.[7]
Texas is home to the most white-tailed deer of any U.S. state or Canadian province, with an estimated population of 5.3 million.[8] High populations of white-tailed deer exist in the Edwards Plateau of central Texas. Michigan, Minnesota, Iowa, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, Illinois, Wisconsin, Maryland, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, and Indiana also boast high deer densities. The conversion of land adjacent to the Canadian Rockies to agriculture use and partial clear-cutting of coniferous trees, resulting in widespread deciduous vegetation, has been favorable to the white-tailed deer and has pushed its distribution to as far north as Yukon. Populations of deer around the Great Lakes have expanded their range northwards, also due to conversion of land to agricultural use, with local caribou, elk, and moose populations declining. White-tailed deer are crepuscular, meaning they are most active during the dawn and dusk hours.[9]
Hunting[edit]
White-tailed deer have long been hunted as game, for pure sport and for their commodities, and is probably the most hunted native big game species in the Americas. In Mesoamerica, white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) were hunted from very early times. Rites and rituals in preparation for deer hunting and celebration for an auspicious hunt are still practiced in the area today. Ancient hunters ask their gods for permission to hunt, and some deer rites take place in caves.[87]
Venison, or deer meat, is a nutritious form of lean animal protein.[88] In some areas where their populations are very high, white-tailed deer are considered a pest, and hunting is used as a method to control them.[89][90][91]
In 1884, one of the first hunts of white-tailed deer in Europe was conducted in Opočno and Dobříš (Brdy Mountains area), in what is now the Czech Republic. In the same era, white-tailed deer were hunted to near extinction in North America, but numbers have since rebounded to approximate pre-colonization levels.[65] In the United States, whitetail hunting is far more popular in some states than others. The top five states for whitetail hunter concentrations are all in the Northeast and Midwest (Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, New York, Wisconsin, and Ohio).[92] The Northeast in particular has twice the hunter density of the Midwest and Southeast and ten times that of the West.[92]
Since whitetail deer is very adaptable, inhabiting diverse regions ranging from tropical rain forests to high-altitude mountain chains of the Andes Mountains at more than 13,000 feet, different hunting methods as well as types of guns and ammo may be used. Most common cartridges used include the .243 Winchester, .308 Winchester, .25-06 Remington, .270 Winchester, 7mm Remington Magnum, .30-06 Springfield, .30-30 Winchester (.30 WCF), .300 Winchester Magnum and 12 gauge shotshells.[93] Due to the whitetail deer's frame and weight, cup and core bullets are the most recommended for taking clean, ethical shots.
Sport hunting for whitetail deer is a way of conservation of natural habitats as well as a population management.
Climate change[edit]
Migration patterns[edit]
Climate change is affecting the white-tailed deer by changing their migration patterns and increasing their population size.[126][127] This species of deer is restricted from moving northward due to cold harsh winters.[128][126][129][130] Consequently, as climate change warms up Earth, these deer are allowed to migrate further north which will result in the populations of the white-tailed deer increasing.[127][128][126] Between 1980 and 2000 in a study by Dawe and Boutin, presence of white-tailed deer in Alberta, Canada was driven primarily by changes in the climate.[127] Populations of white-tailed deer have also moved anywhere from 50 to 250 km north of the eastern Alberta study site. Another study by Kennedy-Slaney, Bowman, Walpole, and Pond found that if current CO2 emissions remained the same, global warming resulting from the increased greenhouse gases in the atmosphere will allow white-tailed deer to survive further and further north by 2100.[128]
Food web[edit]
When species are introduced to foreign ecosystems, they could potentially wreak havoc on the existing food web. For example, when the deer moved north in Alberta, gray wolf populations increased.[127] This butterfly effect was also demonstrated in Yellowstone National Park when the rivers changed because wolves were re-introduced to the ecosystem. It is also possible that the increasing white-tailed deer populations could result in them becoming an invasive species for various plants in Alberta, Canada.[127]
Disease[edit]
However, there are also negative effects resulting from climate change. The species is vulnerable to diseases that are more prevalent in the summer.[126] Insects carrying these diseases are usually killed during the first snowfall. However, as time goes on, they will be able to live longer than they used to meaning the deer are at higher risk of getting sick. It is possible that this will increase the deers' mortality rate from disease.[131] Examples of these diseases are hemorrhagic disease (HD), epizootic hemorrhagic disease and bluetongue viruses, which are transmitted by biting midges.[128] The hotter summers, longer droughts, and more intense rains create the perfect environment for the midges to thrive in.[132] Ticks also thrive in warmer weather heat results in faster development in all of their life stages.[132] 18 different species of tick infest white-tailed deer in the United States alone. Ticks are parasitic to white-tailed deer transmit diseases causing irritation, anemia, and infections.[132]