172 



NORTH AMERICAN FAUNA 66 



351, Harford 70, Kent 619, Queen Annes 124, Caroline 106, Talbot 180, 

 Dorchester 696, Somerset 192, Wiconiico 161, Worcester 377. In addi- 

 tion to the above, 418 deer were killed at Aberdeen Proving Grounds 

 during the season. The Fish and Wildlife Service reports (Big Game 

 Inventory for 1967, Wildlife Leaflet 481, September 1968) an esti- 

 mated total of 75,000 deer in the State for 1967. 



White-tailed deer are primarily nocturnal, but are often abroad dur- 

 ing daylight hours. With regard to feeding habits of this species in 

 Maryland and the availability of food within the State, Bitely ( 1963, 

 pp. 8-9) says: 



Deer require a varied diet and if you've ever watched them feed, they'll 

 nibble here and there, take a twig of witch hazel, then red maple, some huckle- 

 berry and for dessert some greenbriar. . . . Whenever possible, they prefer 

 browse, such as greenbriar, maple leaf viburnum, blueberry, sassafras, black oak, 

 red maple and blackberry. After several winters of heavy browsing these species 

 begin to disappear and the deer are forced to shift to less nutritious food. 



During the winter a deer requires from 6 to 8 pounds of dry browse each 

 day for body and heat maintenance. If the quality and quantity of food is in- 

 suflScient they become victims of diseases (especially pneumonia) and parasites. 

 Very few deer in this section of the United States ever actually starve to death ; 

 disease usually gets them first. 



He says that surveys conducted in 1962 in western Maryland in- 

 dicated heavy browsing pressure on the preferred foods. For instance, 

 of the twigs within reach and available to deer, the following percent- 

 ages had been browsed : Maple-leaved viburnum, 53.9 ; blackberry, 43.8 ; 

 blueberry, 59.0; black birch, 38.8; black cherry, 14.3; dogwood 33.9; 

 greenbriar, 77.6 ; hazelnut, 24.1 ; red maple, 25.9 ; black oak, 44.4 ; sassa- 

 fras, 54.8. In the western three counties, an average of 29 percent of 

 the annual growth was browsed each year. By contrast, on the Eastern 

 Shore, only an average of 6.1 percent was taken. The statewide survey 

 disclosed that a total of 58 species of woody plants had been browsed 

 throughout Maryland. 



The following life history notes on the white-tailed deer are ex- 

 tracted primarily from Severinghaus and Cheatum (1956, pp. 57-186) . 



It is generally agreed that social organization in this species is 

 limited to the family group, which usually consists of an older doe 

 with her fawns, sometimes including those of the previous year. 

 Leadership of the group appears to rest with the old doe. The oc- 

 casional antlered buck that may be seen with the family group is 

 usually the yearling offspring of the old doe. In the Northern States, 

 the breeding season begins in November and the young are bom in 

 May or June. Antlers begin to appear on the bucks in the summer. 

 They grow from a pedicle of the frontal bone and are covered with a 

 true skin (the velvet) during their growth. Antler growth is rapid, 



