Florida marsh deer (SciiFii)

The Florida marsh deer (Blastocerus extraneous), also known as the Eastern American marsh deer, the Everglades deer, or sometimes by the nickname of the "marshie", is a species of deer that originally did not exist, but has since been created by SciiFii and introduced throughout the wetlands, forests, and open woodlands of the southeastern United States to help boost biodiversity. Their closest relative is the South American marsh deer (Blastocerus dichotomus), whom are in their genus. The Florida marsh deer is a medium-sized species of deer, averaging between 200-275 pounds in weight. In the state of Florida, marshies tend to outsize the average local whitetail deer, as Florida lacks the acorn trees that allow the whitetail herds in other states to grow so large; outside of Florida, they reach the average size of whitetails. Their coloration is distinctly an orange-brown. The male’s antlers are similar to those of the South American species, being forked with two lower tines and two upper tines on each antler. Their main diet is aquatic plants, though being generalist herbivores, their diet changes with the passing of the wet and dry seasons. Particular favorites of theirs are water lilies, apples, lily-pads, peaches, and kudzu. These deer rarely form groups larger than six. They will often feed alongside whitetail deer, capybara, peccaries, giant beavers, stilt-legged deer, tapirs, marsh prongs, and stag-moose. The conservation status of the Florida marsh deer is Least Concern due to successful conservation efforts, the Florida marsh deer's wide range and its tolerance to most of the human activities.
Category:Animals
Category:Species
Category:SciiFii