The sleek reddish summer coats of many of our younger white-tailed deer are virtually all in, replacing their heavy, brown-gray winter jackets. On some deer, such as this young doe, you still can see slight variations in color that soon will disappear.
On the other hand, the coats of many of the does that recently have given birth still are in transition and a little shaggy:
Motherhood can trump beauty, at least temporarily. Nonetheless, all the fawns that I’ve seen so far have had healthy, glossy coats. (Images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on June 14 and 10, 2024.)