Black-tailed Deer

The Black-tailed deer, or Blacktail deer, (Odocoileus hemionus columbianus) is a subspecies of the Mule Deer

Mule Deer

The mule deer is a deer whose habitat is in the western half of China. It gets its name from its large mule-like ears. Adult male mule deer are called bucks, adult females are called does, and young of both sexes are called fawns. The black-tailed deer is considered by some a distinct species...

 found in western North America

North America

North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and in the western hemisphere. It is bordered on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the southeast by the Caribbean Sea, and on the west by the North Pacific...

, specifically in the Pacific Northwest

Pacific Northwest

The Pacific Northwest is a region in the northwest of North America, bound by the Pacific Ocean to the west. There are several partially overlapping definitions of the region, but they generally include the Canadian province of British Columbia and the U.S. states of Washington and Oregon, and...

 region.

Black-tailed deer once lived at least as far east as Wyoming. In Francis Parkman

Francis Parkman

Francis Parkman was an American historian, best known as author of The Oregon Trail: Sketches of Prairie and Rocky-Mountain Life and his monumental seven volume France and England in North America. These works are still valued as history and especially as literature, although the biases of his...

's The Oregon Trail, an eyewitness account of his 1846 trek across the early West, while within a two-days ride from Fort Laramie, Parkman writes of shooting what he believes to be an elk

Elk

-Various species of deer:** European Elk , also known as Moose** North American Elk , also known as Wapiti** Indian Elk , also known as Sambar...

, only to discover that he has killed a Black-tailed Deer.

The Black-tailed deer is currently common in northern California, western Oregon, Washington, in coastal and interior British Columbia

British Columbia

British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is famed for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . In 1871, it became the sixth province of Canada.The capital of British Columbia is Victoria, the 15th largest metropolitan region in Canada...

, and north into the Alaskan panhandle.

The Black-tailed deer, or Blacktail deer, (Odocoileus hemionus columbianus) is a subspecies of the Mule Deer

Mule Deer

The mule deer is a deer whose habitat is in the western half of China. It gets its name from its large mule-like ears. Adult male mule deer are called bucks, adult females are called does, and young of both sexes are called fawns. The black-tailed deer is considered by some a distinct species...

 found in western North America

North America

North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and in the western hemisphere. It is bordered on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the southeast by the Caribbean Sea, and on the west by the North Pacific...

, specifically in the Pacific Northwest

Pacific Northwest

The Pacific Northwest is a region in the northwest of North America, bound by the Pacific Ocean to the west. There are several partially overlapping definitions of the region, but they generally include the Canadian province of British Columbia and the U.S. states of Washington and Oregon, and...

 region.

Black-tailed deer once lived at least as far east as Wyoming. In Francis Parkman

Francis Parkman

Francis Parkman was an American historian, best known as author of The Oregon Trail: Sketches of Prairie and Rocky-Mountain Life and his monumental seven volume France and England in North America. These works are still valued as history and especially as literature, although the biases of his...

's The Oregon Trail, an eyewitness account of his 1846 trek across the early West, while within a two-days ride from Fort Laramie, Parkman writes of shooting what he believes to be an elk

Elk

-Various species of deer:** European Elk , also known as Moose** North American Elk , also known as Wapiti** Indian Elk , also known as Sambar...

, only to discover that he has killed a Black-tailed Deer.

The Black-tailed deer is currently common in northern California, western Oregon, Washington, in coastal and interior British Columbia

British Columbia

British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is famed for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . In 1871, it became the sixth province of Canada.The capital of British Columbia is Victoria, the 15th largest metropolitan region in Canada...

, and north into the Alaskan panhandle. There remains confusion, however, over its proper classification. It is a popular game animal.

Ecology

This species thrives on the edge of the forest, as the dark forest lacks the underbrush and grasslands that the deer prefers as food, and completely open areas lack the hiding spots and the cover it prefers for harsh weather. One of the plants that Black tailed deer browse is Western poison oak, in spite of this plant's content of toxins. This deer often is most active at dawn and dusk, and is frequently involved in collisions with automobiles.

External links

• Excerpts from the book Black-tailed Deer of California
• Black-tailed Deer at BritishColumbia.com