This way, they avoid getting bogged down in deep snow when fleeing predators or searching for food. According to Stokes' A Guide to Nature in Winter , spruce groves are a favorite winter refuge - snow accumulations tend to be less there because the trees catch much of the snow in their branches. Finding a steady food supply is a constant challenge for deer in winter, since the grasses they depend on are often buried. They feed upon saplings, buds of deciduous trees, and hemlock or cedar twigs. If the deer population is high and the food supply low, many deer will starve during the long winter.
Dead animals provide food for smaller predators like fox, coyotes or raccoons, and fishers.
Thursday Stealth is one of the whitetail deer's primary survival skills. One observer watched a large buck soundlessly crossing a glade carpeted with leaves dry as parchment. The deer directed the point of its hoof straight at the ground, deftly pushing leaves aside as it brought its foot down. The whitetail deer has many other adaptations. In addition to its keen sense of hearing and smell, the deer's coat, which sheds twice a year, serves as great camouflage.