Mule Deer Research Paper

Words: 460
Pages: 2

Animal: Mule Deer

Range: Mule deer may spend 2–4 months out of every year migrating. Most of that time is spent in distinct “stopover” areas, where the deer follow the vegetation “green-up” and maximize nutritious vegetation. Migrating mule deer can move more than 150 miles, across different landscapes, and encounter many different obstacles and challenges along the way. An example of this would be the longest mule deer migration ever recorded, which was discovered in Wyoming, USA. Mule deer travel a one-way distance of 150 miles from the low-elevation winter ranges in the Red Desert to the high elevation mountains that surround the Hoback Basin. It takes about four months out of every year for the dear to complete this migration path. They encounter many natural and man-made
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Regular Mule Deer travel in groups of around 12, and bucks prefer to be solitary, or travel in smaller groups (around 2-4). Although Mule deer travel in separate groups, they can still all be part of the same herd. Herd sizes can be up to 30,000

Nutritional Requirements: Mule Deer require open areas that provide a wide range of grasses and forbs. They feed on herbs and plants, leaves, and twigs of shrubs. Mule deer are selective species, which means that Instead of eating a large amount of low-quality food, they select the most nutritious plants to feed off of. Due to their selectiveness, mule deer have more specific forage and habitat requirements. Mule deer are able to survive with limited amounts of water. In most of the species', water is usually not a limiting factor.

Habitat Requirements: Mule Deer require areas like tree thickets for escape cover from predators. They also need Vegetative cover for thermoregulation during winter and summer. Mule Deer tend to graze on south facing slopes in the winter and north facing slopes in the summer to counteract the