Category: Information

Most deer drink free-standing water regularly, often daily when it’s convenient, but deer are far less tied to waterholes than most people assume, because a

Yes — deer eat vegetable gardens, and given the chance they’ll eat most of what’s in yours. A vegetable plot is the richest concentration of

Mostly no — deer generally avoid succulents, but “generally” is doing real work in that sentence. Waxy coatings, bitter or astringent sap, and odd textures

Deer are herbivores, and plants make up essentially all of their diet, but the surprising truth is that deer do occasionally eat meat. Deer have

Deer protect their fawns mainly by hiding them rather than guarding them. A doe conceals her newborn in dense cover, stays away most of the

Yes — deer eat blueberries, and not just the fruit. Deer browse blueberry bushes in every season: dormant buds and twigs in winter, tender new

Yes — deer eat lilies, and both true lilies and daylilies rank among their absolute favorite garden plants. Daylilies are rated “frequently severely damaged” —

The main predators of fawns in North America are coyotes, black bears, and bobcats, joined regionally by wolves, mountain lions, and, less often, golden eagles,

Deer appear able to recognize individual humans, at least in a practical sense. Deer are observant, quick-learning animals with good memories, and plenty of real-world

Yes — deer eat sweet potato vine, and they eat it like candy. The ornamental sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) is one of the most vulnerable

No. Male deer play no part in raising fawns. A buck’s involvement ends at mating: he does not help choose a birth site, does not

No, deer do not mate for life. Deer are polygamous animals: a successful buck breeds with multiple does each season, forms no lasting pair bond

A fawn’s main sound is a bleat: a soft, high-pitched “maa” or “mew” that sounds a lot like a lamb or a goat kid. Fawns

Yes — deer eat clematis, and they can do serious damage to it. Despite mildly toxic sap that gives the vine a sharp taste, clematis

Deer hide their fawns in patches of dense, low cover: tall grass, weedy field edges, brushy fencerows, hayfields, thickets, and, quite often, suburban flowerbeds, gardens,

Yes — deer eat rhododendrons, particularly in winter, even though the leaves are toxic to ruminants in large amounts. Rhododendrons aren’t a first-choice food, but