Our White-Tailed Deer seem very healthy and, indeed, content as winter approaches They’re eating vigorously now to fatten up for the winter; and, their svelte, cold-weather coats are growing in well, as you see from this image taken yesterday:
White-Tails become superbly adapted for winter; they reportedly can survive in temperatures down to 30 degrees below zero Fahrenheit. How do they do it? There are a number of organic and lifestyle reasons reported in the literature, including the following ones.
As mentioned, the deer eat voraciously (and lick their lips) in the fall to increase their fat storage; they reportedly can store enough fat to lose up to 30 percent of their weight during the winter. They also “run hot”: Their body temperatures average about 104 degrees, compared to our 98-99.
Their darker, gray-brown winter coats provide better winter camouflage, but they have a more important task: They minimize loss of that internal body heat in cold weather.
The winter coats absorb heat from the sun to warm the deer. They're layered with hollow guard hairs over furry undercoats, which the deer can adjust with their muscles for maximum insulation to keep that heat.
(When you see a deer in snow later this year, look at its back – the snow there usually doesn’t melt because the animal’s high body temperature is so well insulated from the outside.)
As for lifestyle, White-Tails reduce their activity during the winter. They move more during the warmer daylight hours and rest more at night to conserve energy. In very bad weather, they often seek collective refuge in a protected “deer yard”– an area in the woods with natural wind barriers, food, and (if possible) a nearby clearing with a southern exposure for taking in sunlight.
(Images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on September 6 [last image] and 26, 2022.)