Alberta Outdoorsmen Forum - An interesting deer

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An interesting deer

Well, at least to me it’s interesting.

I have been watching this doe for since her birth, which happened I am now trying to think, but can’t place it at 3 or 4 years ago.

There was a mulie doe hanging around the neighbourhood pretty much every day for years. She then gave birth to, I thought, two fawns. A few days later I noticed there was a third, but that third always hang out kind of on the side for a while, like it is with them, but kind of not really. In the beginning, I thought that maybe it was “adopted” because the original mother was ran over or whatever happened. Still wonder, but maybe she just had three fawns. Regardless, some time after, all four of them, the mommy and the 3 fawns, were together like normal deer.

As usually, they have been dropping by the neighbourhood on the regular basis and I never paid any special attention to them or studied them in detail. One day, I was driving home and there they were again, about three or four houses down from mine. All of a sudden, the tail went up on one of the fawns as I got close! They never ran and she put down the tail shortly after. Even though I was sure about what I saw, it was getting dark, so I kind of wrote it off. Until she did it again a few days later. She wasn’t a mulie, but not quite a whitetail either. Since then, I have been watching her every chance I got. She has flagged her tail once in while, but stopped completely a few months later. Maybe she did it, but I have never seen her doing it again.

She was hanging out with a bunch of mule deer that would hit the streets every evening. I have never seen a whitetail deer in this part of town (or any part of town, for that matter). Except for her, if that’s what she is. I had a bunch of photos over the years, but my phone crashed last month and the back up ended up being corrupted (Apple store said there is nothing they can do), so all those photos are gone. I am pretty sure I took some with my camera as well, but will have to find those memory cards.

Last fall, I noticed she started sticking out from all the mule deer. If previously she was indistinguishable from the bunch to an average eye unless she showed here behind, last fall she started acting more like a whitetail with her pose, but she still ran more like a mulie.

I haven’t seen her since spring, but a few days ago, I was driving home from the store and there she was on the side of the road, trying to cross in her usual spot. I knew it was her as soon as I saw her and I was happy I did. I was in for a surprise though: there were two fawns with her! This is the first time she became a mom, at three or four years of age (I feel like it’s four, not sure what the hell is going on with my head, lol).

https://i.postimg.cc/7wwdvvk6/9-E236...DD959-A193.jpg

https://i.postimg.cc/5f9hCh7G/61176-...3064-F55-F.jpg

https://i.postimg.cc/k7jkFTL5/59-C3-...E0162-C4-F.jpg

https://i.postimg.cc/7DgdQHjd/22-A45...94-BF829-D.jpg

https://i.postimg.cc/gcDMcJW0/9-A525...-C72-F7-D7.jpg

https://i.postimg.cc/zzh6N8vL/B8316-...B5-E914-EF.jpg

https://i.postimg.cc/XN0h7mBs/DD53-B...34869-DEB5.jpg

By the way, this is not a thread where I insist I found a hybrid, lol. More like I wanted to share and maybe hear if others experienced this and what people think overall. I know I have pretty good pics of her that I took with my camera and if I find them, I will post here.

Any thoughts on a mule deer “adopting” and “raising” a whitetail deer? If that’s possible, and likely this is what happened with this doe, would it affect its natural behaviour, like flagging the tail, running habits, etc? Sounds very doubtful to me, but it appears that’s what is going on with this particular deer. I am no biologist or deer expert, so lots of wondering on my part, lol.

Very cool!
Thanks for sharing, nature truly is amazing
Bluedog

^ Indeed.

Just returned from the store and saw her again on the way back with another mulie. The fawns were hiding in the grass (she is on the left, of course):

https://i.postimg.cc/JRB37qZF/54-B5-...-FF9-E25-A.jpg

https://i.postimg.cc/RM57WHTZ/C9-BA4...2666189-B2.jpg

very cool, they would trip me out, i'd be scratching my head a little bit if i saw them afield

Also was going to post these that I took mid-August but forgot. These are also them. Went to the play ground one evening with my daughter and they were just chilling there, lol.

https://i.postimg.cc/4XKmbDRC/84-B23...-E2-F76-F2.jpg

The mommy was on the lookout 30-40 yards away.

https://i.postimg.cc/LRH50YF3/55827-...FD7-E8-E34.jpg

Quite amazing how they get used to human presence.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stinky Coyote (Post 4237112)

very cool, they would trip me out, i'd be scratching my head a little bit if i saw them afield

Right? For sure the weirdest deer that I have seen so far.

has anyone asked what tag you'd use on these yet?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stinky Coyote (Post 4237196)

has anyone asked what tag you'd use on these yet?

Probably a deer tag, but me no expert :sHa_sarcasticlol:

is it just me or are those fawns awfully small for this late in the year and still with spots?

Quote:

Originally Posted by fallen1817 (Post 4237200)

Probably a deer tag, but me no expert :sHa_sarcasticlol:

Lol, looks like one might have to play the lottery of which deer tag to use

Nope they are black tail or mule deer. White tail have a way thicker hair on its tail.

It’s a interesting deer. These newest photos only add to the intrigue. Super cool deer and I’m glad she lives in town!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Don't think there are any Blacktails in this province.

Buddy just sent me a photo of a "flagging" deer from the Porcupines hanging with all the mule deer. Poor pic from phonescope. Same kind of tail as your "interesting" deer. My Dad use to see whitetail bucks breeding mule does along the Bow river ...stuff happens

https://i.imgur.com/FqGViVq.jpg

^ Interesting. That would make it an even more interesting deer for me. I wish I followed her siblings and paid more attention to them as well. Surely they also hang around town somewhere. Haven’t seen one that looked like that or any different from all other mule deer they hang around with.

Quote:

Originally Posted by daveyn (Post 4237204)

is it just me or are those fawns awfully small for this late in the year and still with spots?

I wouldn’t say so. They seem comparable to other “normal” mule deer hanging out around town.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tigrr (Post 4237318)

Nope they are black tail or mule deer. White tail have a way thicker hair on its tail.

Definitely not a mule deer because, like I mentioned earlier, I saw her flagging the tail (not for a while, but she at least used to do that) and going by that alone she is a whitey. And when that tail is flagged it is as white as it gets :)

Pretty sure we don’t have black tail deer in Alberta. This is in northern Alberta too. Maybe now we do, lol (she is too big to be a black tail though).

As for the amount of hair on the tail, local mule deer have way less. See the first pic in post number three. A mule deer is on right and she is on the left. Same goes for the second pic in that same post.

Looks like a mule deer to me, just a little more black on the tail then you typically see but that doesnt mean much as not all deer look the exact same