Mule Deer
Odocoileus hemionus
Mule deer perform a unique high-speed bounding gait called 'stotting,' where all four hooves hit the ground at once, allowing them to outmaneuver predators in rugged terrain.
- Scientific name
- Odocoileus hemionus
- Taxonomy
- Animalia › Chordata › Mammalia › Artiodactyla › Cervidae › Odocoileus
- IUCN Red List status
- Least Concern
- Population trend
- stable
- Biome
- forest
- Habitat
- Coniferous forests, chaparral, shrub-steppe, and desert grasslands.
- Diet
- Herbivorous browser; consumes woody shrubs, forbs, berries, and grasses.
- Range
- Western United States, Western Canada, Northern Mexico
- Size
- 3-3.5 feet tall at the shoulder; 130-280 lbs
- Lifespan
- 9-11 years in the wild
- Active
- crepuscular
- Threats
- Habitat fragmentation, Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD), vehicle collisions, and predation by cougars and wolves.
- Safe to approach?
- Harmless but defensive if cornered or protecting fawns. Maintain a safe distance of at least 30 feet. If encountered on a trail, give them space to move away. Keep dogs on a leash as deer may perceive them as predators and kick. If a deer approaches you, it may be habituated to human food; do not feed it.
The mule deer ( Odocoileus hemionus ) is a deer indigenous to western North America; it is named for its ears, which are large like those of the mule. The several subspecies include the black-tailed deer.
Photo: Henrik Kibak, CC-BY, via iNaturalist
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