A dominant male tends an estrus female until mating or displacement by another male occurs. Courtship and mating occur within the group (Geist 1981). Odocoileus hemionus is a polygynous species, having a tending-bond type breeding system. Shoulder height ranges from 84 to 106 cm in males, and 80 to 100 cm in females (Wallmo 1981). Cranial breadth ranges from 11 to 16 cm in males, and 10 to 14 cm in females. Head length ranges from 28 to 35 cm in males, and 27 to 33 cm in females. Body length ranges from 126 to 168 cm in males, and 125 to 156 cm in females. Neck circumference ranges from 30 to 65 cm in males, and 26 to 38 cm in females. Chest girth ranges from 80 to 117 cm in males, and 78 to 97 cm in females. Carcass weight ranges from 45 to 150 kg in males, and 43 to 75 kg in females. Thereafter, males, in general, exceed females in carcass weight, chest girth, neck circumference, body length, head length, cranial breadth, shoulder height, hindfoot length, and hoof length (Anderson 1984). hemionus during the first year is roughly parallel in males and females. hemionus possess a dark V-shaped mark, extending from a point between the eyes upward and laterally. hemionus, but remain constant throughout the life of an individual. On some mule deer, a dark dorsal line runs from the back, down the top of the tail, to the black tail tip. The white tails of most mule deer terminate in a tuft of black hairs, or less commonly in a thin tuft of white hairs. The rump patch may be white or yellow, while the throat patch is white (Geist 1981). The pelage of Odocoileus hemionus ranges from dark brown gray, dark and light ash-gray to brown and even reddish. These habitat provinces include the California woodland chaparral, the Mojave Sonoran desert, the Interior semidesert shrub woodland, the Great Plains, the Colorado Plateau shrubland and forest, the Great Basin, the Sagebrush steepe, the Northern mountain, and the Canadian boreal forest (Wallmo 1981). hemionus occupies a wide range of habitat provinces (regions of land containing particular vegetation types) in western North America. hemionus occupies five boreal forest types that do not occur in the United States. However, the tropical deciduous vegetation at the tip of Baja California is unique. The vegetation types in Mexico are similar to the types occurring in the United States. Several additional vegetation types are inhabited in Canada and Mexico as well. Of at least sixty types of natural vegetation west of the 100th meridian in the United States, all but two or three are or once were occupied by O. Odocoileus hemionus is remarkably adaptable. hemionus occurs in all of the biomes of western North America north of central Mexico, except the Arctic tundra (Anderson 1984). Major gaps in geographic distribution are in southern Nevada, southeastern California, southwestern Arizona, and the Great Salt Lake desert region. Isolated occurrences have been reported from Minnesota, Iowa, and Missouri. The eastern edge of the usual range extends from southwestern Saskatchewan through central North and South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, and western Texas. Odocoileus hemionus occurs over most of North America west of the 100th meridian from 23 degrees to 60 degrees N.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |