Odocileus virginianus - the North American whitetail deer - is a
remarkably adaptable creature. A true survivor. In pre-settlement
times the deer population of Wisconsin was much smaller than it is
today. And it was about to get smaller. The fur trade and later
subsistence hunting and market hunting reduced deer populations to their
lowest levels in modern history. Then a curious thing happened.
Following the great cut-over of Wisconsin's old growth forest and the
later collapse of farming in many northern Wisconsin counties a younger
forest emerged. And with it the population of deer rebounded. Thanks to
a combination of forest succession, the species' polygamous breeding
habits and scientific game management it is estimated that the Wisconsin
deer herd today is four times that of the early 1960s.
You might be asking yourself why the deer in the video looks so scruffy and mangy. The animal does not have a skin disease.
Hormonal
changes bring about a molting process twice a year and deer alternately
grow a faded gray coat consisting of longer guard hairs to prepare for
winter and replace it with the rusty roan-colored coat of summer. The
summer coat will only last about three months before the critter begins
to regrow the extra layer of longer, stiffer, hollow hair over the
softer hair closer to the skin.
Until the transition is complete the local whitetails are going to continue looking a bit scruffy.
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