Deer
Where're the deer? Click here to find a map showing where deer can be viewed in the Kootenay's.
There are three deer native to BC: mule deer, white-tailed deer and the coastal black tailed deer.
Deer facts:
- Mule deer are the more numerous of the deer species in the Kootenay's and are found in most habitats.
- Deer are both browsers (eating shrubs and woody plants) and grazers (eating grasses).
- Male deer, called bucks, grow antlers that are shed every year- usually by late December but some may reain theirs muc later.
- Bucks use their antlers for both display and fighting in order to assert dominance and to secure breeding privilages with the does.
- Female deer, called does, usually give birth to one or two fawns.
- Fawns are spotted when new-born to help camouflage them while they are left unattended byt he doe as she goes off to fed.
- Deer carry a wide variety of ticks and whatever deer have over-wintered you should by on the look-out for tivks in the spring.
Deer Safety Tips!
Deer are normally timid but if they become habituated to humans they can become a danger.
- Never approach a deer, expecially if it has young with it.
- If a deer attacks you- try to stay upright as they inflict ingury by stricking at their opponent with their sharp hoves. Cover you head with your arms and back off to some form of shelter.
- Deer may signal an impeding attack by laying their ears back and lowering their head.
