I have received several deer management questions not exactly addressed somewhere in this site. I will add to this page as deer questions arise. Please submit deer related questions or comments below.
FAQ Frequently Asked
Questions
Q. Why to deer seem to be worse and eat more
some nights as compared to other nights?
A. Deer have a cycle they follow, which is
affected by a full moon. Deer feed as long as there is light to see. Check
your calendar or better yet put a moon display on your home
page to see when the moon is going to be full. Deer will feed the entire
night by moon-lite and that will result in more damage. The nights around
a full moon, you may want to add another form of control, such as a weatherproof
radio.
Q.
How long do deer live?
A. The lifespan of a wild whitetail is
11 to 12 years. Most free-roaming deer never actually live that long though.
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.
Q. Do deer eat anything they
find? Do they eat meat? Are there really plants they won't
eat?
A. Deer
are herbivores. They usually browse and primarily feed on leaves. They have
small, unspecialized stomachs, and high nutrition requirements. Rather than
attempt to digest vast quantities of low-grade, fibrous food like sheep and
cattle, deer select easily digestible shoots, young leaves, fresh grasses, soft
twigs, fruit, and fungi. In the winter they will eat harder to digests
food such as acorns and twigs. They do not eat meat. Check the charts of
rarely-eaten plants for lists of plants deer usually avoid.
Q. How much do deer
eat a day?
A. On
average a deer eats two to four percent of its body weight each day. Deer are
ruminant
animals.They have a four compartment stomach and chew their cud like a
cow.
Q. Are deer everywhere in the
US?
A.
White-tailed deer are found in every state in the U. S. except Alaska
and in only small parts of Utah, Nevada and California. The mule deer range is
primarily in western states. There are several subspecies of both
deer.
|
