Mule & Black Tailed Deer

One morning while planting Conifer Island in Bonhoeffer Botanical Gardens we saw what we believe to have been a Mule Deer doe, munching away on the previous days’ plantings. Much like the sighting of a flock of Turkeys by our preschoolers (and their teachers), this was a rare occurrence.  Generally, the Rocky Mountain Mule Deer inhabits the environs east of the Cascade Crest, while the closely related, but smaller, Black-Tailed Deer common to the Gardens inhabits the west … so common that we see them almost daily.  Hybrids of these 2 animals (Mule Deer ears and antlers appear much larger) occur, as do hybrids with White-Tailed species from eastern part of Oregon and Washington (along with an endangered Columbian white-tailed deer found in pockets along the Columbia River. 

https://wdfw.wa.gov/species-habitats/living/species-facts/deer
https://wdfw.wa.gov/species-habitats/species/odocoileus-hemionus-columbianus
https://wdfw.wa.gov/sites/default/files/2020-09/living_with_deer.pdf
https://paws.org/resources/deer/
https://deceptionpassfoundation.org/news/black-tailed-deer/
http://www.bentler.us/eastern-washington/animals/mammals/mule-deer.aspx
https://muledeer.org/washington/
https://news.wsu.edu/news/2022/08/02/habitat-survey-sheds-light-on-survival-of-iconic-mule-deer/
https://nwsportsmanmag.com/herd-growth-has-wdfw-mulling-downlisting-columbian-whitetails/
https://www.nps.gov/olym/learn/nature/black-tail-deer.htm
https://www.nwcouncil.org/sites/default/files/AppE_Wildlife_Assmt_sm_Part3.pdf
USGS mapping of western mule deer migration featured in new global atlas | U.S. Geological Survey

In general Mule Deer are in size, compared to Black-tailed Deer:

larger
the same
smaller

Comments, content, questions appreciated; email bb@plc215.org

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