# 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.

- **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.

## About

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.

## Sources

- Plate: https://gaia-dex.com/species/9bddff38-a26a-4da3-85f2-19aad28a36d3
- iNaturalist: https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/42220
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odocoileus hemionus
- Conservation status: IUCN Red List category, as recorded by Gaia-Dex
- Photo: https://inaturalist-open-data.s3.amazonaws.com/photos/167851101/medium.jpeg (Henrik Kibak, CC-BY, via iNaturalist)

Habitat, diet, size and similar notes are AI-written summaries; check them against the linked sources before relying on them.