Protecting your
garden investment
Mule Deer Facts
and Deterrents
Compiled by the makers
of Deer Scram™ -- America’s Finest Deer Repellent™
Generally found from the Rocky Mountains to
the Pacific coast, mule deer –
Odocoileus hemionus –
range across the western United States, including
the
four deserts of the American Southwest.
As their name implies, “mulies” are large animals
– the largest deer of North America – and feature
very large ears that move constantly and
independently. Their body weights easily eclipse
that of their cousins, the whitetails and
blacktails. However, mule deer closely resemble
blacktails except for the tail, which is marked by
a small black patch at its tip
with a white basal portion, and its under parts
are white.
 Mule deer are stocky animals with sturdy legs, measuring up to 4 feet high at the
shoulder. Their
distinctive gait is highlighted by a series of
peculiar, stiff-legged jumps with all four feet
hitting the ground together, creating
bounding leaps that can cover distances up to 8
yards and heights up to 8 feet. They can reach a
speed of 45 miles per hour but for only short
periods. Their coats are usually a dark gray that,
in its desert
and mountain environments, disguises
mule
deer from predators like the cougar, the
coyote and the eagle, which is known to swoop down
on fawns. The throat patch, rump patch, inside
ears and inside legs is white. A dark V-shaped
mark extends from a point between the eyes upward
and laterally, a characteristic that is more
conspicuous in males than females.
Like its cousins, white-tailed and black-tailed
deer, male mule deer are larger than the females.
Individual does can weigh upward of 150 pounds,
while bucks can reach 300 pounds in weight. The
largest animals are found in the harshest
environments, where heavy body weights help them
endure severe winters. The bucks' antlers, which
start growth in spring and are shed around
December each year, are high and branch forward,
typically forking to form two equal tines that can
grow quite wide, with a “spread” that can measure
up to 4 feet. Bucks don't use the antlers as
protection from predators, only to establish
dominance over other bucks.
Antlers are shed after the breeding season, from
mid-January to about mid-April.
Mule deer move between various zones, from the forest
edges at higher elevations to the desert floor,
depending upon the season.
In the arid southwestern US, mule deer migrate in
response to rainfall patterns. And where
winter’s deep snows reduce the deer’s mobility and
food supply, its useable range is reduced to a
fraction of the total. It occupies almost all
types of habitat within its range, but it seems to
prefer arid, open areas and rocky hillsides.
They are usually inactive during the hot days and
come out in the mornings, evenings and at night.
During the middle of the day, mule deer bed down
in cool secluded places. The mature buck seems to
prefer rocky ridges for bedding grounds, while the
doe and fawn is more likely to bed down in the
open.
Mule deer breed in late November and early December. Bucks
find suitable does and often play chase games at
breakneck speeds before mating and will remain
together for several days. Fawns (as many as four,
but usually two) are born in late May or June,
after about a 200-day gestation period. The fawn
weighs about 6 pounds at birth and is colored
reddish with white spots for camouflage. It is
further protected from predators by having little
or no scent. It must nurse within the first hour
and stand within the first 12 hours. During its
early weeks of life, the fawn sees its mother only
at mealtimes for feeding, remaining hidden most of
the day among deadfalls and thickets. They have
white camouflage spots and are further protected
by having little or no scent. Spots begin to fade
by the end of the first month. Fawns usually stay
with the doe for the first full year. The mule
deer’s lifespan is usually about 10 years.
Mule deer feeding periods depend upon the weather,
the phase of the moon, the time of the year and
type of country. During cold, snowy, winter months
when food is difficult to obtain and a
considerable amount is required to maintain body
heat and energy, deer feed at all times of day and
night. During the rutting – or breeding – season,
feeding is often erratic, especially with bucks.
During the hunting season, when many hunters are
on the range, bucks do the major part of their
feeding at night. Deer are more prone to feed on
dark nights and are relatively quiet and bedded
down when the moonlight is intense.
In spring and summer mule deer feed on
green leaves, herbs, weeds and grasses. They are
particularly fond of blackberry and raspberry
vines, grapes, mistletoe, mushrooms, lichens and
ferns. They eat so carefully when forage is
abundant they can even consume the fruit of
cactus.
The reverse is true in fall and winter when they
typically browse on a wide variety of vegetable
matter, including fresh green leaves, twigs, lower
branches of trees and various grasses.
Tree foods include the tender leaves, semi-woody stems and fruits or
berries of apple, chokecherry, crabapple, aspen,
cherry, dogwood, elderberry, mountain ash,
mountain mahogany, sagebrush, serviceberry,
willow, cottonwood, currant, Douglas fir,
huckleberry, juniper, maple, mock orange,
ninebark, Oregon grape, plum, rabbit brush,
raspberry, rose, snowberry, smooth sumac,
skunkbush sumac and thimbleberry.
It’s reported that mule deer are much less afraid
of humans than other deer species and should be
approached with caution, if approached at all.
Like all deer, mulies are unable to detect
motionless objects, but their eyesight is
extraordinarily sensitive to moving objects. The
mule deer’s sense of hearing and smell are also
extremely acute, making hunting these animals a
formidable challenge. Still, sport hunters
annually kill about 1 million mule deer across its
range.
Beyond hunting, human contact with mule
deer is frequently the result of environmental
conditions. Road kills are frequent especially
where natural range meets developed lands. And
where food and water resources are created by
manmade landscapes, the abundance of ornamental
shrubs, trees and flowerbeds are “natural”
attractors. Across many yards it often seems
there’s no end to what they will eat. The damage
done to yard plants by a lone deer can be
substantial. Several deer can lay a 2-acre
landscape to waste.
As
a result, deer deterrents range wide across the
horizon of the imagination. Deer are mostly color
blind so any bright colors will also not act as a
deterrent. Thus, numerous offensive products –
both professionally and personally cooked up to
protect ornamental shrubs, trees, flowerbeds and
vegetable gardens – are made to attack their
taste buds and their noses. Many temporarily turn
deer away, but their cleverness eventually results
in failed remedies.
Instead,
deer must be instilled with the fear of physical
harm, which almost always naturally occurs with
predators. Indeed, it is only the fear of death
that effectively breaks their behavior, whether
it’s in a yard or in the woods. To turn deer away
from the foods they want, they must sense an
assault upon their security. This is best done by
taking advantage of their remarkable sense of
smell for locating food and survival. Their nose
will lead them to return over and over again to
areas where food is tasty, abundant and safe to
forage. Their nose will also alert deer to nearby
danger. Disrupt their sense of security and you’ve
achieved the primary factor for turning deer away
from your valuable plants, gardens, shrubs and
trees. Deer have good memories and learn from each
other. When one deer is afraid to return to an
area, other deer – including fawns – also will be
reluctant to enter the area.
Deer
Scram is your best deer repellent
because it attacks a deer’s sense of safety.
Blended from selected organic components, Deer
Scram will keep deer off your plantings because,
through their uncanny sense of smell, Deer Scram
convinces deer that harm is nearby. Deer Scram
will change deer behavior. As they near the
applied barrier of Deer Scram, deer actually alert
to a sense of danger – even death! Its unique
blend of organic ingredients targets a deer’s
remarkable sense of smell. As the scent of death
reaches the deer, a genetic biological defense
mechanism to flee from predators is triggered.
Watch deer flee from the area or avoid it
completely! The association of the fear of death
with Deer Scram will lead to a profound learning
experience for the deer and, with proper
re-application of Deer Scram, the deer will not
return to the area.
Deer Scram is an all-natural, biodegradable deer
repellent that guarantees pesky white-tailed,
black-tailed and mule deer will stop feeding on
your prized gardens, shrubs and trees for 45 to 60
days per application. Deer Scram
is a fully organic granular deer-control product
that contains no harmful chemicals or toxins that
could hurt the animals, environment and, most
importantly, you or your family.
 Reclaim your
gardens!
Guard your trees
and
shrubs 24 hours
a day!
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to order
Deer Scram now!
Your 100% guaranteed
deer browsing solution! |
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