USDA photo by Scott Bauer [Public domain] via Wikimedia CommonsThe white-tailed deer is an ungulate native to North, Central and South America. Adults stand about 3 ft tall at the shoulder and weigh 150–200 lb. Coat color varies seasonally from reddish brown with short, sparse, wiry hairs during warm months to grayish brown with long, dense, brittle hairs and a thick undercoat in the colder months. Year round, the coat is marked with white on the underside of the body, on the inner areas of the legs and ears, around the eyes, across the muzzle and along the throat. The underside of the tail, which measures 6–11 in long, is also white, inspiring the deer’s common name. The deer holds its tail erect when disturbed and bounds away with a flash of white. In addition to the showy tail, deer have prominent ears and bucks boast conspicuous antlers.
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