The white-tailed deer is one of our best known and easily recognized large mammals. They are abundant in most areas of our state, especially in the eastern Coastal Plain. Other members of the deer family found in North America include the elk, moose, caribou, and mule deer. In our area, adult weight averages from about 100 to 150 pounds. Some whitetail deer from the northern United States and Canada may weigh as much as 350 pounds.
Mature males are generally larger than the females.
The whitetail is an ungulate, or hoofed animal, with each foot ending in a cloven or two piece hoof. The underparts of the deer's body are white with a white patch on the throat and another smaller band of white around the nose. The underside of the tall is also white. The upper body parts are colored reddish brown during the warmer months but in the fall, white-tailed deer molt into their winter coats of dark, grayish brown. For several months of the year, male white-tailed deer, known as bucks, are easily recognized by the presence of antlers on the head, which the females, known as does, lack.