Black-tailed deer

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Black-tailed deer
Odocoileus hemionus 5932.JPG
Young male black-tailed deer (Olympic National Park)
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Family: Cervidae
Subfamily: Capreolinae
Genus: Odocoileus
Species:
O. hemionus
Subspecies:
O. h. columbianus
Trinomial name
Odocoileus hemionus columbianus
(Richardson, 1829)

Two forms of black-tailed deer or blacktail deer that occupy coastal woodlands in the Pacific Northwest of North America are subspecies of the mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus). They have sometimes been treated as a species, but virtually all recent authorities maintain they are subspecies. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]

Contents

The Columbian black-tailed deer (Odocoileus hemionus columbianus) is found in western North America, from Northern California into the Pacific Northwest of the United States and coastal British Columbia in Canada. [8] The Sitka deer (O. h. sitkensis) is found coastally in British Columbia, southeast Alaska, and southcentral Alaska (as far as Kodiak Island). [8] [9] [10] [11]

Range

The black-tailed deer lives along the Pacific coast from northern and western California and north to southeastern Alaska. East of the Cascade and Sierra Nevada Ranges in Oregon and California, black-tailed deer are replaced by mule deer which have a different tail pattern. In several northern California counties, including Siskiyou, Tehama, Shasta, and Plumas County (among several others), two or three subspecies of black-tailed deer can be found with overlapping ranges. Within the county of Siskiyou, a north-central county on the California-Oregon border, one may find populations of Columbian black-tailed deer in the majority of the county. However, the range of this population of deer begins to overlap with the Rocky Mountain subspecies (as well as with Rocky Mountain mule deer), in the central and eastern portions of the county. [12]

The black-tailed deer is currently common in California, ranging as far south as San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara County; [13] north into western Oregon, Washington, and coastal and interior British Columbia; and north into the Alaskan panhandle. It is a very popular game animal.

Taxonomy

All recent authorities maintain it as a subspecies of the mule deer (O. hemionus). [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] Strictly speaking, the black-tailed deer group consists of two subspecies, as it also includes O. h. sitkensis (the Sitka deer). [2] Despite this, the mtDNA of the white-tailed deer and mule deer are similar, but differ from that of the black-tailed deer. [6] This may be the result of introgression, although hybrids between the mule deer and white-tailed deer are rare in the wild (apparently more common locally in West Texas), and the hybrid survival rate is low even in captivity. [4] [6]

Ecology

These two subspecies thrive on the edge of the forest, as the dark forest lacks the underbrush and grasslands the deer prefer as food, and completely open areas lack the hiding spots and cover they prefer for harsh weather. One of the plants that black-tailed deer browse is western poison oak, despite its irritant content. [14] This deer often is most active at dawn and dusk, and is frequently involved in collisions with automobiles.

Diet and reproduction

Characteristic black tail Blacktail.jpg
Characteristic black tail

Deer are browsers. During the winter and early spring, they feed on Douglas fir, western red cedar, red huckleberry, salal, deer fern, and lichens growing on trees. Late spring to fall, they consume grasses, blackberries, apples, fireweed, pearly everlasting, forbs, salmonberry, salal, and maple. The mating or 'rutting' season occurs during November and early December. Bucks can be observed running back and forth across the roads in the pursuit of does. After the rut, the bucks tend to hide and rest, often nursing wounds. They suffer broken antlers, and have lost weight. They drop their antlers between January and March. Antlers on the forest floor provide a source of calcium and other nutrients to other forest inhabitants. Bucks regrow their antlers beginning in April through to August.[ citation needed ]

The gestation period for does is 6–7 months, with fawns being born in late May and into June. Twins are the rule, although young does often have only single fawns. Triplets can also occur. Fawns weigh 2.7 to 4 kg (6.0 to 8.8 lb) and have no scent for the first week or so. This enables the mother to leave the fawn hidden while she goes off to browse and replenish her body after giving birth. She must also eat enough to produce enough milk to feed her fawns. Although does are excellent mothers, fawn mortality rate is 45 to 70%. Does are very protective of their young and humans are viewed as predators.[ citation needed ]

Deer communicate with the aid of scent and pheromones from several glands located on the lower legs. The metatarsal (outside of lower leg) produces an alarm scent, the tarsal (inside of hock) serves for mutual recognition and the interdigital (between the toes) leave a scent trail when deer travel. Deer have excellent sight and smell. Their large ears can move independently of each other and pick up any unusual sounds that may signal danger.[ citation needed ]

At dawn, dusk, and moonlit nights, deer are seen browsing on the roadside. Wooded areas with forests on both sides of the road and open, grassy areas, i.e. golf courses, attract deer. Caution when driving is prudent because often as one deer crosses, another one or two follow.[ citation needed ] [15]

Controversy over habitat management

In Southeast Alaska, the Sitka deer is the primary prey of the rare Alexander Archipelago wolf (Canis lupus ligoni), which is endemic to the region. [16] In the mid-1990s, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service evaluated a petition to list this wolf subspecies as threatened, and decided a listing was not warranted in August 1997, largely on the basis of provisions the Forest Service had included to protect the viability of the wolf subspecies in its Forest Plan for the Tongass National Forest, adopted three months earlier. [17] The Tongass NF is important in wolf conservation because it includes about 80% of the region's land area. The protections for the wolf included a standard and guideline intended to retain, in the face of logging losses, enough habitat carrying capacity for deer in winter to assure the viability of the Alexander Archipelago wolf and an adequate supply of deer for hunters. The needed carrying capacity was originally specified as 13 deer per square mile, but was corrected in 2000 to 18. Use of a deer model is specified for determining carrying capacity, and is the only tool available for the purpose. [18] [19]

However, the Forest Service's implementation of the deer provision in the Tongass wolf standard and guideline has been controversial for many years, and led to a lawsuit by Greenpeace and Cascadia Wildlands in 2008, over four logging projects. The data set the Forest Service was using in the deer model was known through the agency's own study (done in 2000) to generally overestimate the carrying capacity for deer and underestimate the impacts of logging. [20] The study showed the data set (called Vol-Strata) is not correlated to habitat quality. [21] [22] Also, a conversion factor, known as the "deer multiplier" (used in calculating carrying capacity) was incorrectly applied, causing — by itself – a 30% overestimation of carrying capacity and corresponding underestimation of impacts. [20] The combined effect of the two errors is variable because Vol-Strata is not correlated to habitat quality. Regarding the Traitors Cove Timber Sales project, in 2011 the plaintiffs noted in oral arguments before the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals that the difference is between a claimed 21 deer per square mile carrying capacity in the project EIS, and 9.5 deer per square mile (about half of the Tongass Forest Plan's requirement) according to unpublished corrections the agency made in 2008. [23]

The 9th Circuit panel ruled unanimously on August 2, 2011, in favor of the plaintiffs, remanding the four timber sale decisions to the Forest Service and giving guidance for what is necessary during reanalysis of impacts to deer. [24] The ruling says in part:

We do not think that USFS has adequately explained its decision to approve the four logging projects in the Tongass. ... USFS has failed to explain how it ended up with a table that identifies 100 deer per square mile as a maximum carrying capacity, but allows 130 deer per square mile as a potential carrying capacity. 'The agency is obligated to articulate a rational connection between the facts found and the choices made,' which the agency has not done here. Pac. Coast Fed'n of Fisherman's Ass'ns v. U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, 426 F.3d 1082, 1091 (9th Cir. 2005)... [24]

We have similar questions about USFS's use of VolStrata data, which identifies total timber volume and not forest structure, to approve the projects, where forest structure—and not total timber volume—is relevant to the habitability of a piece of land. USFS itself has recognized the limitations in the VolStrata data. ... Because we must remand to the agency to re-examine its Deer Model, we need not decide whether the use of the VolStrata data was arbitrary and capricious. We anticipate that, in reviewing the proposed projects, USFS will use the best available data ... [24]

In a statement to the press, a spokesman for the plaintiffs said the errors in this lawsuit apply to every significant Tongass timber sale decision between 1996 and 2008, before the Forest Service corrected errors in the deer model when the agency issued its revised Tongass Forest Plan in 2008. But he said despite those corrections, the agency still fails to address cumulative impacts to deer, especially on Prince of Wales Island, as is being challenged in the Logjam timber sale lawsuit, by ignoring substantial logging on nonfederal lands. [25] In September 2013, under the same litigation, the U.S. District Court in Anchorage made a second remand to the Forest Service because the agency's further work under the first remand had not resolved the modeling issues. Activity on the four timber sales involved in the litigation has been suspended since 2008. [26] [27]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deer</span> Family of mammals

A deer or true deer is a hoofed ruminant mammal of the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including muntjac, elk (wapiti), red deer, and fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including reindeer (caribou), white-tailed deer, roe deer, and moose. Male deer of all species, as well as female reindeer, grow and shed new antlers each year. In this, they differ from permanently horned antelope, which are part of a different family (Bovidae) within the same order of even-toed ungulates (Artiodactyla).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tongass National Forest</span> National forest in southeast Alaska

The Tongass National Forest in Southeast Alaska is the largest U.S. National Forest at 16.7 million acres. Most of its area is temperate rain forest and is remote enough to be home to many species of endangered and rare flora and fauna. The Tongass, which is managed by the United States Forest Service, encompasses islands of the Alexander Archipelago, fjords and glaciers, and peaks of the Coast Mountains. An international border with Canada runs along the crest of the Boundary Ranges of the Coast Mountains. The forest is administered from Forest Service offices in Ketchikan. There are local ranger district offices located in Craig, Hoonah, Juneau, Ketchikan, Petersburg, Sitka, Thorne Bay, Wrangell, and Yakutat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sika deer</span> Species of deer native to much of East Asia

The sika deer, also known as the Northernspotted deer or the Japanese deer, is a species of deer native to much of East Asia and introduced to other parts of the world. Previously found from northern Vietnam in the south to the Russian Far East in the north, it is an uncommon species that has been extirpated in most areas of its native range, except in Japan, where it is overabundant and present in very large numbers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">White-tailed deer</span> Species of hooved mammal

The white-tailed deer, 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. It has also been introduced to New Zealand, all the Greater Antilles in the Caribbean, and some countries in Europe, such as the Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Romania and Serbia. In the Americas, it is the most widely distributed wild ungulate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mule deer</span> Deer indigenous to western North America

The mule deer is a deer indigenous to western North America; it is named for its ears, which are large like those of the mule. Two subspecies of mule deer are grouped into the black-tailed deer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sitka deer</span> Subspecies of deer

The Sitka deer or Sitka black-tailed deer is a subspecies of mule deer, similar to the Columbian black-tailed subspecies. Their name originates from Sitka, Alaska, and it is not to be confused with the similarly named sika deer. Weighing in on average between 48 and 90 kg, Sitka deer are characteristically smaller than other subspecies of mule deer. Reddish-brown in the summer, their coats darken to a gray-brown in mid- to late August. They are also good swimmers, and can occasionally be seen crossing deep channels between islands. Their average lifespan is about 10 years, but a few are known to have attained an age of 15.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scent gland</span> Exocrine glands found in most mammals

Scent gland are exocrine glands found in most mammals. They produce semi-viscous secretions which contain pheromones and other semiochemical compounds. These odor-messengers indicate information such as status, territorial marking, mood, and sexual behaviour. The odor may be subliminal—not consciously detectable. Though it is not their primary function, the salivary glands may also function as scent glands in some animals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Columbian white-tailed deer</span> Subspecies of deer

The Columbian white-tailed deer is one of the several subspecies of white-tailed deer in North America. It is a member of the Cervidae (deer) family, which includes mule deer, elk, moose, caribou, and the black-tailed deer that live nearby.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">California mule deer</span> Subspecies of deer

The California mule deer is a subspecies of mule deer whose range covers much of the state of California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American mountain deer</span> Extinct species of deer

Odocoileus lucasi, known commonly as the American mountain deer, is an extinct species of North American deer.

The Cedros Island mule deer is a subspecies of mule deer found only on Cedros Island off the coast of Baja California. Only about 50 individuals remain, with no captive population. Its behavior is similar to that of other subspecies of mule deer. The subspecies is threatened by feral dogs and poaching.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mammals of Glacier National Park (U.S.)</span>

There are at least 14 large mammal and 50 small mammal species known to occur in Glacier National Park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alexander Archipelago wolf</span> Subspecies of wolf endemic to Alaska

The Alexander Archipelago wolf, also known as the Islands wolf, is a subspecies of the gray wolf. The coastal wolves of southeast Alaska inhabit the area that includes the Alexander Archipelago, its islands, and a narrow strip of rugged coastline that is biologically isolated from the rest of North America by the Coast Mountains.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alberta Mountain forests</span> Temperate coniferous forests ecoregion of Alberta and British Columbia, Canada

The Alberta Mountain forests are a temperate coniferous forests ecoregion of Western Canada, as defined by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) categorization system.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mammals of Olympic National Park</span>

There are at least 9 large terrestrial mammals, 50 small mammals, and 14 marine mammal species known to occur in Olympic National Park.

The Maybeso Experimental Forest is an experimental forest on Prince of Wales Island in Alaska. It is located near Hollis, Alaska within the Tongass National Forest and is administered by the United States Forest Service. The area of the forest is approximately 1,101 acres (446 ha), with a peak elevation of 2,953 feet (900 m). The forest was established in 1956 to examine the effects of large-scale clearcut timber harvesting on forest regeneration and anadromous salmonid spawning areas. The Maybeso Experimental Forest is the site of the first large-scale clearcut logging operation in Southeast Alaska, and nearly all commercial forest was removed from the area between 1953 and 1960. Presently, the forest is an even-aged, second-growth Sitka spruce and Western hemlock forest.

References

  1. 1 2 Sanchez-Rojas, G.; Gallina-Tessaro, S. (2016). "Odocoileus hemionus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2016: e.T42393A22162113. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-1.RLTS.T42393A22162113.en . Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 Wilson, D. E.; Reeder, D. M., eds. (2005). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN   978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC   62265494.
  3. 1 2 Novak, R. M. (1999). Walker's Mammals of the World. 6th edition. ISBN   0-8018-5789-9
  4. 1 2 3 Heffelfinger, J. (version 2 March 2011). Tails with a dark side: The truth about whitetail – mule deer hybrids. Archived November 22, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  5. 1 2 Reid, F. A. (2006). Mammals of North America. 4th edition. ISBN   978-0-395-93596-5
  6. 1 2 3 4 Geist, V. (1998). Deer of the world: their evolution, behaviour, and ecology. ISBN   978-0-8117-0496-0
  7. 1 2 Feldhamer, G. A., B. C. Thompson, and J. A. Chapman, editors (2003). Wild mammals of North America: biology, management, and conservation. 2nd edition. ISBN   978-0-8018-7416-1
  8. 1 2 B.C. Ministry of Env., Lands & Parks. (Undated) Mule and black-tailed deer in British Columbia.
  9. ↑ B.C. Ministry of Forests. 1996–1998. Coastal Black-Tailed Deer Study, linking to five reports.
  10. ↑ MacDonald, S. and Cook, J. (2007) Mammals and Amphibians of Southeast Alaska.
  11. ↑ Wildlife. U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge. Last updated: April 6, 2011.
  12. ↑ "Columbian Black-tailed Deer". Solano County Office of Education. Retrieved 1 January 2023.
  13. ↑ Livezey KB. 1991. Home range, habitat use, disturbance, and mortality of Columbian black-tailed deer in Mendocino National Forest. California Fish and Game 77:201–209.
  14. ↑ Hogan, C. Michael (2008) Western poison-oak: Toxicodendron diversilobum Archived July 21, 2009, at the Wayback Machine , GlobalTwitcher, ed. Nicklas Stromberg.
  15. ↑ Zahid, Azrub (February 14, 2023). "What Do Deer Eat? All About Deer Diet". Digi World Mag. Retrieved February 17, 2023.
  16. ↑ Person, D.K. (Univ. Alaska); Kirchhoff, M. (ADF&G); van Ballenberghe, V. (USFS-FSL); Iverson, G.C. (USFS); Grossman, E. (USF&WS). 1996. "The Alexander Archipelago Wolf: A Conservation Assessment," Archived 2014-04-07 at the Wayback Machine Gen. Tech. Rep. PNW-GTR-384. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station.
  17. ↑ USF&WS. 1997 (August 28) 12-month finding, re: Petition to List the Alexander Archipelago Wolf under Provisions of the Endangered Species Act.
  18. ↑ 1997 TLMP Wolf standard and guideline: reproduced at Wildlife Habitat Planning: WILD112, XI.A.3 in . The 13 deer per square mile carrying capacity was an error, corrected in 1998 to 17, and in 2002 to 18 deer per square mile.
  19. ↑ Tongass Forest Plan Implementation Clarification, 1998; and directive of Tom Puchlerz, Tongass Forest Supervisor, August 6, 2002. See also: Background Archived December 15, 2013, at the Wayback Machine . USDA Forest Service – Tongass National Forest
  20. 1 2 "Suit Filed to Stop Four Timber Sales on Largest National Forest" – Sit News. Sitnews.us (2008-07-11). Retrieved on 2012-06-10.
  21. ↑ Caouette, J.; Kramer, M.; Nowacki, G. 2000. Deconstructing the Tongass Timber Paradigm Archived 2011-10-16 at the Wayback Machine . USDA Forest Service.
  22. ↑ US Forest Service, 2008 Final Environmental Impact Statement for Tongass Land Management Plan Archived July 24, 2011, at the Wayback Machine . Vol. 1 (January 2008) pp. 3–265 to 3–266.
  23. ↑ Audio recording of oral arguments before 9th Circ. Ct. of Appeals, May 3, 2011. Hear: argument by Chris Winter (Crag Law Center) attorney for Greenpeace v. Cole plaintiffs generally, and at 13:20 concerning Traitors Cove. Recording includes arguments by Winters and federal attorney Charles Scott, and Winter's rebuttal.
  24. 1 2 3 Memorandum. Issued unanimously by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals panel of Judges Alarcon, Graber and Bybee. August 2, 2011.
  25. ↑ Jonathan Grass, Appeals court overturns 4 Tongass logging projects Archived 2011-08-10 at the Wayback Machine . Juneau Empire, August 3, 2011.
  26. ↑ SitNews (2013). Court Decision Stops Four Tongass National Forest Logging Projects, 27 Sept. 2014
  27. ↑ KFSK (2013). Court sends four timber sale plans back for reworking, by Joe Viechnicki. 2 Oct. 2014.
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