First Fawn Appearance - Truly Life on Carillon Stonegate Pond!

One event that I look forward to every summer on Carillon Stonegate Pond is the appearance of the first fawns. This is a sign that our small ecosystem is thriving and sustaining its wildlife community.

On July 27^th, our first Whitetail fawn appeared on the north shore of the western pond.

This wonder of nature appeared through the tall grasses and plants along the shore of the pond and roamed the shoreline for approximately 15 minutes before it scampered back into the woods.

For today’s blog, let’s talk about the Whitetail Deer.  I have used a variety of sources in this blog, including National Geographic, American Expedition, Nature Mapping Foundation and NatureWorks as a basis for learning.

Whitetail Fawn on Carillon Stonegate Pond 7/27/2018

COMMON NAME: Whitetail Deer

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Odocoileus virginianus

RESIDENCY: Whitetail deer can be found across most of the United States (except for the Southwest, Alaska and Hawaii) and in southern Canada

Range Map Courtesy NHPTV

SIZE & LIFESPAN: Whitetail deer are the smallest members of the North American deer family. Adults are about 6 feet in total length, and 39 in in shoulder height. Their average weights: adult male - 203 lb. and adult female - 155 lb. A Whitetail deer will live to  5 – 10 years in the wild.

HABITAT: A deer's home range is usually less than one square mile. The typical family group is a mother and her fawns. In the heat of summer, they typically inhabit fields and meadows; and during the winter, they generally keep to forests. Whitetail deer mate between November and February. The female gives birth to one to three fawns about six months after mating. Fawns are reddish-brown at birth with white spots that help camouflage them (see first photo above).

WHAT TO LOOK FOR: The Whitetail deer is brown in the summer. Its coat turns grayish brown, which they can fluff up to help hold air to help with insulation, in winter. This change in color happens very quickly, usually in 1 or 2 weeks. A Whitetail deer has white on its throat, around its eyes and nose, on its stomach and on the underside of its tail. Male deer – bucks - are easily identified in the summer and fall by their prominent set of antlers. Antlers are grown annually and fall off in the winter. Female deer are called does. Young deer – fawns - wear a reddish-brown coat with white spots that helps them blend in with the woodlands.

Whitetail Deer on Carillon Stonegate Pond late Fall 2017

WHERE AT CARILLON STONEGATE POND: You may sight a Whitetail Deer more typically in the Summer through Winter and either in morning or late afternoon. Generally, you will find an adult and several younger deer. And in the winter, you may find them feeding by your wild bird feeder (see photo - note the deer coats have turned grayish).

Whitetail Deer Family on Carillon Stonegate Pond Winter 2017

ATHLETIC ENDEAVORS: Whitetail deer are tri-athletes! They run! They jump! And they swim! And they excel at all of these endeavors. They use speed and agility to outrun predators, sprinting up to 30 miles per hour. They can leap as high as 10 feet and as far as 30 feet in a “Superman-like” single bound. Whitetail deer can swim at speeds of up to 13 miles per hour – Michael Phelps can only swim at 6 mph.

DINING MENU: Whitetail deer are herbivores. They will leisurely graze on most available plant foods. Their specialized stomachs allow them to digest a varied diet. While occasionally venturing out in the daylight hours, Whitetail deer are primarily nocturnal or “crepuscular”, browsing mainly at dawn and dusk. The eat green plants in the spring and summer; in the fall, they eat corn, acorns and other nuts; and in the winter, they survive on the buds and twigs of woody plants.

CONSERVATION: The whitetail is the most abundant and most widely seen land mammal in the United States. According to the Wildlife Management Institute, the United States currently supports between 12.5 and 14 million whitetail deer. While they live in every state on the U.S. mainland, California, Nevada, and Utah have extremely low populations. Sometimes, populations get too large and must be culled down.

SOUNDS: Whitetail deer often snort or whistle, when disturbed. When fawns or young doe are captured by predators, they make a groaning or bleating sound to warn of danger. A Whitetail doe gives a low grunt to communicate with her baby and fawns often respond with a mew like sound.

OTHER FUN FACTS:

• "Whitetail" refers to the white underside of the deer's tail, which it displays and wags when it senses danger. 
• Illinois designated white-tailed deer as the official state animal in 1980 after winning the vote of the schoolchildren of Illinois (state animal in eight other states) 
• Whitetail deer fawns are normally born sometime between late April and early May. 
• A whitetail deer's eyes are on the sides of its head, giving it 310 degrees of vision without rotating its head 
• They can rotate their ears in any direction without moving their heads 
• They can detect smells hundreds of yards away (5 miles if it is your teenage grandson’s deodorant), licking the nose to increase its sensitivity.

For more information on Whitetail Deer and sources of information used in this blog (these are the sources that I am using to learn as I blog), please visit National Geographic, American Expedition, Nature Mapping Foundation and NatureWorks.

The Carillon at Stonegate community is very fortunate to have a variety of wetland, forest and prairie environments conducive to a variety of birds and other wildlife. Our community and the Kane County Forest Preserve does an exceptional job in maintaining this natural environment – both for the benefit of the birds and wildlife and for our residents to enjoy. Take a hike and see what you can find – and identify!

And please come back to our blog – “Life on Carillon Stonegate Pond” to learn more about the birds I and wildlife that live or visit this wonderful habitat. As I learn, I share with you.