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Cerf de Virginie / White-Tailed Deer
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| [Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note |
Cerf de Virginie / White-Tailed Deer / Odocoileus Virginianus.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
White-tailed Deer
Conservation status
Least Concern
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Family: Cervidae
Subfamily: Odocoileinae
Genus: Odocoileus
Species: O. virginianus
Binomial name
Odocoileus virginianus
Zimmermann, 1780
The White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), also known as the Virginia deer, or simply as the whitetail, is a medium-sized deer found throughout most of the continental United States, southern Canada, Mexico, Central America and northern portions of South America as far south as Peru.
The species is most common east of the American cordillera, and is absent from much of the western United States, including Nevada, Utah, and California (though its close relatives, the mule deer and black-tailed deer, can be found there).
It does, however, survive in aspen parklands and deciduous river bottomlands within the Central and Northern Great Plains, and in mixed deciduous riparian corridors, river valley bottomlands, and lower foothills of the Northern Rocky Mountain Regions from Wyoming to Southeastern British Columbia. The conversion of land adjacent to the Northern Rocky Mountains into agriculture use and partial clear-cutting of coniferous trees (resulting in widespread deciduous vegetation) is in favor of white-tailed deer in this region.
The westernmost population, the Columbian white-tailed deer once was widespread in the mixed forests along the Willamette River (Willamette Valley Forests Ecoregion) and Cowlitz River Valleys of Western Oregon and Southwestern Washington (endangered).
There are also populations of Arizona (coues) and Carmen Mountains (carminis) white-tailed deer that inhabit the mountain mixed deciduous/pine forests of Arizona, New Mexico, and West Texas extending southwards into Mexico.
As a result of introductions, white-tailed deer are found also in localised areas of northern Europe such as Finland.
White-tailed deer are generalists and can adapt to a wide variety of habitats. Although most often thought of as forest animals depending on relatively small openings and edges, white-tailed deer can equally adapt themselves to life in more open savanna and even sage communities as in Texas and in the Venezuelan llanos region. These savanna adapted deer have relatively large antlers in proportion to their body size and large tails. Also, there is a noticeable difference in size between male and female deer of the savannas.
Description: The deer's coat is a reddish-brown in the spring and summer and turns to a grey-brown throughout the fall and winter. The deer can be recognized by the characteristic white underside to its tail, which it shows as a signal of alarm by raising the tail during escape.
The male (also known as a buck) usually weighs from 130 to 220 pounds (60 to 100 kg) but, in rare cases, animals in excess of 350 pounds (160 kg) have been recorded. The female (doe) usually weighs from 90 to 130 pounds (40 to 60 kg), but some can weigh as much as 165 to 175 pounds (75 or 80 kg).
Males one year of age or older have antlers. Antlers begin to grow in late spring, covered with a highly vascularised tissue known as velvet or, occasionally, moss. Bucks either have a typical or atypical antler arrangement. Typical antlers are symmetrical on both sides and the points grow straight up off the main beam. Atypical antlers are asymmetrical and the points are going in any direction off the main beam. These descriptions are not the only limitations for typical and atypical antler arrangement. The Boone & Crockett or Pope & Young scoring systems also dictate what constitutes a typical or atypical antler arrangement on a harvested or non-harvested buck by measuring how many inches of antler are non-symmetrical. Therefore, bucks with slightly asymmetrical arrangements are commonly referred to as typical. A buck's inside spread can be any where from 3-25 inches (8-64 cm). Bucks shed their antlers when all females have been bred, from late December to February. |
tiklod, gracious, marieproue, earthtraveler, anel, writerscrawlz, CeltickRanger, MMM, mlines has marked this note useful
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- tiklod
![Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 299 W: 77 N: 891]](http://i1.treknature.com/misc/g-g-g.gif)
(3361) - [2007-08-31 18:48]
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Bravo Daniel, un magnifique chevreuil dans son élément! Digne de mention.
Claude
Wonderful Daniel!
The beautiful subject, focused detail, soft light and color, POV, DOF and layers of various bushes make this a beautiful view.
Well done.
Richard
Hello Daniel,
Nice to see your posting with such a excellent composition in perfect sharpness, natural warm colour and so much details in f6.3
perfect exposure and focus also the pov
thanks for sharing and useful notes
greeting
Tony
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- jesst
![Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 353 W: 0 N: 163]](http://i1.treknature.com/misc/g-n-g.gif)
(2092) - [2007-09-01 0:54]
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I can imagine how this deer goes through the forrest hiding of hunters... And I hope no one can fing him except phptp camera's eye.
Nice work.
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- anel
(7816)
- [2007-09-01 2:07]
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Bonjour Daniel,
Très belle ta photo et non seulement techniquement. J'aime beaucoup le fait que tu aies inclus cette belle végétation. Et il a l'air bien fier ton cerf de Virginie. Bien vu.
Anne
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- jossim
(11866)
- [2007-09-01 5:49]
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Bonjour Daniel,
Superbe composition,j'aime bien cette photo.
Merci pour le partage.
Joseph
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- pvb
![Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 377 W: 20 N: 517]](http://i1.treknature.com/misc/g-s-g.gif)
(1803) - [2007-09-01 6:08]
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Hi Daniel,
This is a great looking deer and you have captured it very well.
Good sharpness and taken in a nice natural surrounding.
TFS Paula
Bonjour Daniel,
Magnifique cerf avec ses bois, grandioses. Je n'ai jamais eu l'occasion d'en voir un avec son panache. La composition est très belle avec les arbustes en premier plan et les détails sont excellents.
Merci
Marie
Beautiful photo; nice capture of the light. The details are clear, and you've caught the catch in his eye - excellent job. He's certainly in his surroundings and this is a photo to be proud of. The colors blend into one another from the buck to his surroundings. Lovely shot.
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- EOSF1
(20415)
- [2007-09-01 15:14]
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Salut Daniel, magnifique cerf ! J'aime beaucoup le contact visuel avec l'animal. C'est clair, net et bien composé. Le background est fabuleux aussi ! Bravo !
Mario
bonjour Daniel
très belle capture en photo de ce buck dans son mileu naturel
merci pour le partage
Asbed
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- RP1
(1900)
- [2007-09-02 15:27]
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Salut Daniel,
Très belle photo avec un arrière plan qui rehausse la photo.
On dirai qu'il pose pour toi.
Roger
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- MMM
(6754)
- [2007-09-03 12:05]
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Salut Daniel
Excellente capture.Belle composition de plus dans son élément naturel.Le détails de la fourrure est aussi excellent.
Merci Michel
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- mlines
(2498)
- [2007-09-06 14:47]
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Hi Daniel. Your nature photos are superb and this is a very good one. The clarity is such that we can almost feel the texture of those antlers. It is a particularly beautiful animal you show today. TFS. Murray.
PS Just noticed the 500mm lens, good one for this result.
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- laslow
![Silver Note Writer [C: 9 W: 0 N: 13]](http://i1.treknature.com/misc/n-n-s.gif)
(128) - [2008-07-21 18:28]
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Great looking buck! Nice contrast with the different color leaves. Inspiring, I've been taking alot of deer pics lately
TFS
Jay
![Silver Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 23 W: 0 N: 81]](http://i1.treknature.com/misc/s-n-g.gif){kind=small}