DOE DEER

Odocoileus virginianus

I. TAXONOMY

Domain:

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Mammalia

Family: Cervidae

Genus: Odocoileinae

Species: Odocoileus virginianus

II. ANATOMYAND PHYSIOLOGY OF THE ANIMAL

1. Shoulder blade- The scapula, or shoulder blade, is a large triangular-shaped bone

that lies in the upper back. The bone is surrounded and supported by a
complex system of muscles that work together to help you move your arm.
2. Lungs- The main function of the lungs is the process of gas exchange called
respiration (or breathing)
3. Backbone- the line of bones down the center of the back that provides support for
the body
4. Kidney- The kidneys are a pair of bean-shaped organs on either side of your spine,
below your ribs
5. Pelvis- The pelvis can then be easily split with a hatchet.
6. Leg bone- The deer's legs are perfectly designed for running and jumping.
A deer walks on his toenails instead of his toes.
7. Intestines- The gastrointestinal tract is an organ system within humans and other
animals which takes in food, digests it to extract and absorb energy and
nutrients, and expels the remaining waste as feces. The mouth, esophagus,
stomach and intestines are part of the gastrointestinal tract.
8. Stomach- One of the coolest things about the ruminant stomach is that it can
produce high-quality proteins.
9. Liver- the liver is reddish-brown in color and feels rubbery to the touch. Normally you
can't feel the liver, because it's protected by the rib cage.
10. Diaphragm- The diaphragm is a thin skeletal muscle that sits at the base of the
chest and separates the abdomen from the chest. It contracts and flattens
when you inhale.
11. Heart- The heart pumps blood through the network of arteries and veins called the
cardiovascular system.
III. DISTINCT FEATURES

While male deer are called bucks, the females are known as does, and they are
distinct both physically and behaviorally. Does live differently than males do, and they
take a more hands-on approach to parenting their young, known as fawns. Without
the care and attention of a doe, a fawn may not survive, demonstrating how important
the nurturing characteristics of this animal are.

Physical Characteristics
The exact physical characteristics of any deer, male or female, depend on the
species. For example, the white-tail deer -- the smallest type of North American deer
-- sports a distinct tail that is brown on top and white on the bottom, along with a coat
that changes colors along with the seasons. What sets the doe apart from the buck,
however, are the antlers. Bucks grow antlers made of living tissue, which they shed
one a year. Does, on the other hand, do not grow antlers.

Life in Groups
While bucks typically live alone until the mating season begins, does are more social
creatures. They frequently live and travel in groups -- if the doe gave birth following
the previous mating season, she travels with her young. Otherwise, she travels with
other does. Does in the group look out for one another -- for example, a white-tail doe
sensing danger will flee the area with the white of her tail exposed, serving as a silent
warning signal to the others.

Mating
During the late-autumn mating season, or rut, does are approached by bucks, who
come out of their solitary travels in search of partners. The female is passive during
the mating process, waiting as bucks spar with their antlers to determine who gets to
mate with which females. One impregnated, the doe carries her young for about
seven months, after which she gives birth to one to four fawns.

Species and Sizes

Deers come in more than one species, and while their sizes can vary considerably
depending on the species, the doe is generally smaller than the buck. In white-tailed
deer, for example, the doe may be only negligibly smaller than the buck -- does of
this species can weigh as much as 140 pounds, while bucks can weigh as little as
150 pounds.In other species, the size difference is more dramatic. In the Columbian
black-tail deer or the Rocky Mountain mule deer, for example, the doe can be less
than half the size of the buck.
 Life Cycle
According to the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife, most deer -- does and
bucks alike -- don't live more than five years, and very few live more than 10 years. A
doe reproduces regularly throughout her life, though. She can start reproducing at the
age of 1 and will continue giving birth to one or several fawns once a year. A doe and
her fawns develop a close relationship until the young are weaned, an approximately
three-month period characterized by careful protection from predators. The fawns
spend most of that time hiding in the woods or brush, visited by the mother for
feedings three or four times daily. Because deer are generally killed by predators, the
elements or human interference more than old age, the doe still has reproductive
potential at the time of her death.

IV. ECOLOGY

The white-tailed deer lives in wooded areas. In

some areas, deer overpopulation is a problem. Gray
wolves and mountain lions used to be predators of
the white-tailed deer and helped keep their
population under control, but because of hunting
and human development there are not very many
wolves and mountain lions left in most regions of
NorthAmerica.
Sometimes a bobcat or a coyote will kill a young deer,
but people and dogs are now the deer's main predator.
Because there are not many natural predators, deer
populations can sometimes grow too large for their
environment and deer can starve to death. In rural
areas, hunters help control deer populations, but in
suburban and urban areas hunting is often not allowed
and deer populations can grow out of control.

Other things can change deer populations. Disease

and parasites like lice, mites and roundworms can
weaken or kill deer. Young deer and old deer often
get sick and die, especially in the winter. Winter is a
dangerous time for deer. Their long narrow legs and
pointed hooves make it hard for them to move
around in the snow and ice and it is easier for
predators like dogs to catch them.
 Deer and people are living closer to each other
because of human development and growth in
deer and human populations. Because humans
and deer often share a habitat, there can be
problems for both of them. When a deer's habitat
becomes smaller because of human development,
deer will often eat food from gardens. Deer need
to cross roads to look for food and water and are
sometimes struck by cars. People can also catch
a sickness called Lyme Disease from the deer
tick.

V. ECONOMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL VALUE

Economic Importance for Humans: Positive

Whitetail deer are commonly hunted for meat and sport. Early settlers and Native
Americans also utilized whitetail deer hides to make buckskin leather. Whitetail heads
are also commonly mounted on the walls of lodges and other places of outdoor
recreation.

Economic Importance for Humans: Negative

Whitetail deer are destructive to crops, vegetable gardens, fruit trees, and ornamental
plants where their ranges overlap with human habitation. When their numbers become
too high, whitetail deer can cause serious damage to forest vegetation through
overbrowsing. They are involved in accidents with cars, often resulting in serious injury
to the human occupants of the vehicles.

Whitetail deer are important as vectors disease because they serve as hosts to the ticks
which carry the bacteria responsible Lyme disease. This has become an increasingly
common disease in certain parts of the United States, especially the northeastern
states.

Conservation Status
Whitetail deer are extremely common throughout their ranges and are the most
numerous of the large North American mammals. Precise estimates of their numbers
have not been made, but there are probably somewhere between 8 and 15 million on
this continent. Although their populations were decimated to the point of extinction in
many areas at the turn of the century (due to overhunting), they have recently reached
their highest numbers due to the improvement of their habitat by the cutting of climax
forests, providing them with a greater amount of brush and shrubs on which to forage.
VI. BIBLE VERSES

Gen 49:21 Naphtali is a doe set free that bears beautiful fawns.

2 Sam 22:34 He makes my feet like a doe deer, and on my high places he has set me.

Job 39:1 "Do you know when the mountain goat gives birth? Do you watch the doe as it
calves its young?

Psa 22:1 For the music director; according to the tune "Morning Doe;" a psalm of David.
My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? I groan in prayer, but help
seems far away.

Prov 5:19 A loving doe, a graceful fawn—let her breasts always satisfy you; be lost in
her love forever.

Jer 14:5 Even the doe in the field gives birth and abandons her fawn since there is no
grass.