The physical evidence of deer browsing on leaves, twigs, agricultural crops and natural fruits shows a unique type of deer sign. This is an area that deserves your close examination as it can be a puzzle to figure it out without knowledge of the signs. An area rich in food should also
support a herd of deer. If you cannot be certain of feeding within an area, it may nevertheless serve as a travel corridor for deer, but you will have to find other signs, like tracks and trails to verify this.
To find proof of feeding, you must know what deer devour, which includes more than 6 different plants. As grazing animals, they randomly nip off small leaves, twigs and buds of many trees and shrubs.
The important natural foods of the nothern forests are white cedar, maples, dogwood, aspen and blueberry. In the south deer favor greenbriers, black gum, maples, honeysuckle, sumac and kudzu. At large they prefer new growth. In times when they are starving; however, deer
will eat pencil-thick stems.
Across whitetail country, the acorns of oak trees remain a common food source from late summer through winter. Fifty-four different species of oaks grow in North
America, and just about every species produces acorns important to
deer. Botanists divide all oaks into two groups, white oaks and black
oaks. Generally, the white oaks produce "sweeter acorns", although
black-oak acorns are slightly bitter. Deer show a preference for the
very sweetest whites, such as the chinquapin, the post and swamp white
oak. Then again, black oaks produce acorns more consistently than white
oaks, and deer eat black-oak acorns in years when white oaks do not
bear fruit.
Squirrels shuck the shell of the acorn. Deer, on the other hand, eat acorns whole so the physical signs of such a meal are subtle. If you look close, you may detect some disturbance in leaf
litter affiliated with deer, or you may come across some tracks in
exposed dirt underneath oaks. Parallel wind rows of leaves usually
suggest feeding activity of wild turkeys. With snow cover, you can
easily discover where deer have pawed down to find acorns.
Essential agricultural crops that deer use include corn, soybeans,
apples and alfalfa. Deer eat these foods in many different stages. In
an apple orchard, for instance, deer will graze on apple twigs in
addition to eat the fruit itself. In a cornfield, deer will nip off the
tops of the stalk and silk as well as the mature ear. When encountering
shelled corn, they will chow down with relish. Frequently they will
also carry a cob of corn with them as they leave a feeder or field.
Deer lack incisor teeth in the front of the upper jaw; hence they
cannot nearly "bite" off stems. Alternatively, a deer utilized its
lower canine teeth to press a stem or leaf against the upper jaw and
then tears away a mouthful. The remaining stem or leaf shows a jagged
edge. By contrast, neatly-pruned stems low to the ground is more than
likely rabbit activity. Broken branches of apple and cherry trees as a
whole represent the work of a bear. Tthe raccoon will break down stalks
of corn. Deer are dainty eaters by equivalence.
support a herd of deer. If you cannot be certain of feeding within an area, it may nevertheless serve as a travel corridor for deer, but you will have to find other signs, like tracks and trails to verify this.
To find proof of feeding, you must know what deer devour, which includes more than 6 different plants. As grazing animals, they randomly nip off small leaves, twigs and buds of many trees and shrubs.
The important natural foods of the nothern forests are white cedar, maples, dogwood, aspen and blueberry. In the south deer favor greenbriers, black gum, maples, honeysuckle, sumac and kudzu. At large they prefer new growth. In times when they are starving; however, deer
will eat pencil-thick stems.
Across whitetail country, the acorns of oak trees remain a common food source from late summer through winter. Fifty-four different species of oaks grow in North
America, and just about every species produces acorns important to
deer. Botanists divide all oaks into two groups, white oaks and black
oaks. Generally, the white oaks produce "sweeter acorns", although
black-oak acorns are slightly bitter. Deer show a preference for the
very sweetest whites, such as the chinquapin, the post and swamp white
oak. Then again, black oaks produce acorns more consistently than white
oaks, and deer eat black-oak acorns in years when white oaks do not
bear fruit.
Squirrels shuck the shell of the acorn. Deer, on the other hand, eat acorns whole so the physical signs of such a meal are subtle. If you look close, you may detect some disturbance in leaf
litter affiliated with deer, or you may come across some tracks in
exposed dirt underneath oaks. Parallel wind rows of leaves usually
suggest feeding activity of wild turkeys. With snow cover, you can
easily discover where deer have pawed down to find acorns.
Essential agricultural crops that deer use include corn, soybeans,
apples and alfalfa. Deer eat these foods in many different stages. In
an apple orchard, for instance, deer will graze on apple twigs in
addition to eat the fruit itself. In a cornfield, deer will nip off the
tops of the stalk and silk as well as the mature ear. When encountering
shelled corn, they will chow down with relish. Frequently they will
also carry a cob of corn with them as they leave a feeder or field.
Deer lack incisor teeth in the front of the upper jaw; hence they
cannot nearly "bite" off stems. Alternatively, a deer utilized its
lower canine teeth to press a stem or leaf against the upper jaw and
then tears away a mouthful. The remaining stem or leaf shows a jagged
edge. By contrast, neatly-pruned stems low to the ground is more than
likely rabbit activity. Broken branches of apple and cherry trees as a
whole represent the work of a bear. Tthe raccoon will break down stalks
of corn. Deer are dainty eaters by equivalence.
