One of the most familiar characteristics of the white-tailed deer is the white fur on the undersurface and edges of the tail that is highly visible on the elevated tail of a startled or frightened deer. Male white-tailed deer possess antlers - branched structures consisting of bone that are shed annually and are regrown each year. Bucks usually shed their antlers during late December, January, and February. New antlers appear several weeks after shedding and grow rapidly as the spring forage improves. White-tailed deer prefer areas where dense woods and thickets alternate with open meadows and forest glades. Forest margins, orchards, and farmland generally provide excellent habitat. Deer are primarily active in early morning and early evening throughout the year. They generally spend the daylight hours in concealing cover and bed down in a different site each day. They have no permanent shelter or den.

Physical Characteristics:
- Adult Total Length: 134-206 cm (4?-6? ft.)
- Tail: 15-33 cm (6-13 in.)
- Height at Shoulder: 90-105 cm (3-3? ft.)
- Weight: 67.5-135 kg (150-300 lb.)
During the summer, the back, sides, and limbs are usually reddish-brown; the heavier winter coat is grayish. The throat and underparts are white during all seasons. One of the most familiar characteristics of the white-tailed deer is the white fur on the undersurface and edges of the tail that is highly visible on the elevated tail of a startled or frightened deer.
Deer have a number of prominent glands that secrete substances (pheromones) that may be used to attract other members of their species and in marking trails and territories.
Male white-tailed deer possess antlers. Antlers are branched structures consisting of bone that are shed annually and are regrown each year. Bucks usually shed their antlers during late December, January, and February. New antlers appear several weeks after shedding and grow rapidly as the spring forage improves. Until they reach their full growth, antlers are covered by a thin layer of finely haired skin known as the "velvet." The velvet gradually loosens and is shed in pieces.

Habitat:
White-tailed deer prefer areas where dense woods and thickets alternate with open meadows and forest glades. Forest margins, orchards, and farmland generally provide excellent habitat.

Reproduction:
Female deer produce a single annual litter. A female's first litter usually consists of one fawn; two are most common thereafter. In the park, breeding usually occurs from November to mid-December. Following a gestation of 197 to 222 days, fawns are usually born from late May through early July (Linzey, 1995a). Mating deer were observed in Cades Cove on November 1 (Stupka, 1956). A doe and a newborn fawn were observed on June 20 (Stupka, 1956). The tracks of an adult and a fawn were seen along the Gregory Ridge Trail (4,200 feet) on June 17 (Stupka, 1939), while several does with fawns were noted near Hazel Creek in August, 1963. Wathen and New (1989) reported fawn-at-heel counts (fawns:does) ranging from 18:100 in 1984 to 20:100 in 1985 for the Cades Cove deer herd, suggesting a low rate of productivity.

Longevity:
Few white-tailed deer live beyond four or five years in the wild, although they may live up to 20 years in captivity (Whitaker and Hamilton, 1998).

Terrestrial Ecology:
Deer are primarily active in early morning and early evening throughout the year. They generally spend the daylight hours in concealing cover and bed down in a different site each day. They have no permanent shelter or den.
Deer live in family groups composed of an adult doe, her young of the year, and her previous year's yearling does. Bucks are solitary in the fall, but congregate in groups in spring and summer. Deer are shy, secretive, and alert. They possess a good sense of sight and especially keen senses of hearing and smell.
During the period 1983-85, spotlight counts in Cades Cove yielded an estimate of 0.38 deer per hectare (2.63 hectares per deer), while monthly mark-recapture estimates averaged 0.23 deer per hectare (4.4 hectares per deer) (Wathen and New, 1989). The average annual home range was 147 hectares.
White-tailed deer are selective vegetarians choosing the most nutritious forage that is seasonally available. During the spring and summer, leaves, twigs, mushrooms, fruits, grasses, honeysuckle, and tree seedlings may be consumed. In the fall, acorns and other mast usually form a major portion of the diet.

Predators and Defense:
Wathen and New (1989) reported female fawn mortality rates of approximately 25 percent. Predation was one of the major causes of death (27%), with dogs or Coyote (Canis latrans) suspected as being the major predators. Black bear (Ursus americanus) are known to kill some park deer. Males appear to be more susceptible to mortality factors than females.

Parasites:
Seventy-nine of 127 deer (62%) from Cades Cove were infested with lice. Tricholipeurus parallelus was found on 51 deer (40%) and Tricholipeurus lipeuroides was found on 36 deer (28%) (Hribar et. al., 1986). One doe also harbored Solenopotes ferrisi. Blood samples were collected from 518 deer in Cades Cove between 1980 and 1985 (Wathen and New, 1989). Antibodies were recorded for hemorrhagic disease viruses, leptospirosis, bovine virus diarrhea (BVD), infectious bovine rhinotracheitis (IBR), and anaplasmosis. No antibodies were recorded for brucellosis.

White-tailed deer are found from northern South America, north through Mexico and the United States to southern Canada (Smith, 1991). They occur throughout the United States except in the arid portions of the West and Southwest.

White-tailed deer were once common in some sections of the area now included in the park. However, due to a combination of factors - persistent hunting, running by dogs, disease, and predators - they decreased in numbers, almost disappearing from the park by about 1930. The formation of the park at that period provided a refuge for these animals, and they have been increasing ever since. They remained scarce until the late 1940s, when small herds of seven or eight animals were reported in Cades Cove. By the middle 1950s, the herd in Cades Cove had built up considerably and, since that time, they are commonly observed there. By the early 1960s, white-tailed deer were being reported from many places in the park. By 1993, deer existed in low densities throughout much of the park. They continue to be most common in the western third of the park and are uncommon in the spruce-fir region (Linzey, 1995b).

References:

Linzey, D. W. 1995a. Mammals of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The McDonald & Woodward Publishing Company, Inc., Blacksburg, Virginia.

Linzey, D. W. 1995b. Mammals of Great Smoky Mountains National Park-1995 Update. Journal of the Elisha Mitchell Scientific Society 111(1): 1-81.

Hesselton, W.T. and R.M. Hesselton. 1982. White-tailed Deer. Pages 878-901. In: J.A. Chapman and G.A. Feldhamer (editors). Wild Mammals of North America. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press.

Hribar, L.J., G.B. Wilson, and R.R. Gerhardt. 1986. Infestations of Lice on White-tailed Deer, Odocoileus virginianus, in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee, USA. Journal of Wildlife Diseases 22(2): 272.

Smith, W.P. 1991. Odocoileus virginianus. Mammalian Species No. 388: 1-13. American Society of Mammalogists.

Stupka, A. 1935-63. Nature Journal, Great Smoky Mountains National Park. 28 vols. (years) each with index. (Typewritten copy in files of Great Smoky Mountains National Park.)

Wathen, W.G. and J.C. New, Jr. 1989. The White-tailed Deer of Cades Cove: Population Status, Movements and Survey of Infectious Diseases. National Park Service Research/Resource Management Report SER-89/01.

Whitaker, J.O., Jr. and W.J. Hamilton, Jr. 1998. Mammals of the Eastern United States. Ithaca, New York: Comstock Publishing Associates.