Deer Family

The deer family are hoofed mammals that include deer, elk, moose and caribou. In North America you can find white-tailed deer and mule deer. Black-tailed deer are found in in the pacific northwest, and are a sub-species of the mule deer.

Predators of deer include cougar, domestic dogs, wolves, coyotes, lynx, bobcat and bear, probably in that order of importance, Fawns are particularly vulnerable, although predation is an important natural process that serves to weed out sick and weak animals from the prey population. Larger predators scatter herds on wintering ranges to some extent, thereby achieving wider utilization of browse.

Deer may be in competition for food with cattle, sheep, elk and moose.

It is usually only in the spring that deer feed on grass and at this period they are in competition with cattle and other grazers.

While deer and moose eat many of the same foods, at the critical winter period deer and moose are separated to some extent by the deer's inability to move easily in snow deeper than about 1 1/2 feet (.5 m).