THE BLACK-TAILED DEER

The type of deer we have in

Bear Valley Springs is the Columbia Black-Tailed Deer.  Most BVS residents have come to love the sight of the Black-Tailed Deer as they migrate up and down the mountains seasonally to avoid heavy snows.  In summer they forage for herbaceous plants, but also for blackberries and huckleberries.  Winter foraging will include fir twigs, cedar, juniper and the tender shoots from an assortment of other trees.  Our deer enjoy acorns and apples as well as the occasional rose bush, as many residents have discovered to their dismay.

The Black-Tailed Deer often form herds in winter, but the herds are seldom large.  The usual social group might consist of a doe and her fawn or a doe, her twin fawns and a pair of yearlings, perhaps.  Family groups tend to space themselves widely, thereby helping ensure food and cover for all.  The buck has a larger home range than the doe but during rutting season, both the buck and doe may leave their home range.

A first year doe produces a single fawn, while an older doe usually has twins.  For their first month, the young are kept concealed and the doe visits them regularly to nurse.  Like the Mule Deer, the Black-Tailed Deer has glands on the hindlegs and the fawns seem able to recognize their mother by the odor from these glands.

The major predators for deer are mountain lions and wolves.  Bobcats and bear take a few and coyotes will prey on the young ones.  Although instinctively shy of humans, the deer in Bear Valley seem to have adapted themselves to seeing humans in fairly close proximity.  Just one more reason to live in a community where the "view" often includes our wildlife neighbors, the Columbia Black-Tailed Deer.