Why did the deer go for a run? To doe off some steam. And run they do! Whitetail deer can develop speeds up to 30 miles per hour and jump eight feet high. Despite being the most wide-spread deer species in North America, the whitetail deer is pretty flighty and patience is required to snap a decent picture of one.

Deer travel in herds and when spooked, warn others about a potential threat by raising their tail to display the white underside. It also serves as an effective marker that a fawn can follow in moments of danger. Deer’s sense of scent is 60 times better than that of a human, but their eyesight is quite poor in the daylight.

Their preferred habitat is open woodland but they’ll live in your backyard too, if you’re kind enough to sacrifice your vegetable garden. Should you adopt one, better stock up on provisions – deer can live up to three times longer in captivity than in the wild. Jokes aside, deer grazing has had a significant impact on the ecosystems they populate. They can consume eight pounds of food daily, and alter the composition of plants in their habitat, also affecting tree seedling abundance.

Deer are ruminants and much like cows, have four-chambered stomachs with a multi-stage, complex digestion system. Deer don’t have any front top teeth, so they grind food between their bottom teeth and the roof of the mouth, chopping tough vegetation like on a cutting board. Does this make you wonder where the expression “buck teeth” has come from?

By: Anna Aráoz