What Do Deer Eat

Deer are ruminant mammalian animals like cows, among which deer, elk and reindeer can be included, all coming from the same family and each of which has its own characteristics depending on the region from which they come.

Some have small or large horns, depending on the species. In addition, it is a singularity of the males of each specimen. They also change each year in size and appearance according to age, offering the animal more range and robustness within the same herd.

They usually live in herds and the females are usually the ones who care for, feed and keep the young safe, hiding in the woods from the hands of men and predators who seek to feed on them due to their nobility and docility.

Deer have the peculiarity of being herbivorous animals and in addition to this, they have smooth, thick fur that is close to the body, which is generally reddish brown or brown with small white spots that the puppies have on their backs.

They are usually familiar with horses, camels and llamas due to some characteristics that they have similar to these other animals, but in reality they are of a very different species, each one of them particularly with the antlers that the males have when they are adults.

Some females usually have the spots even after they are adults, without horns and with a curved head and longer neck than males; they also have thinner legs which makes them more agile when fleeing from hunters and predators.

What do you need:

• They are herbivores that feed on berries, plants, roots, stems and tree bark and any other vegetables.
• They also tend to like mushrooms, mushrooms and nuts.
• They tend to invade the crops of farmers who generally grow corn, soybeans and wheat.
• Corn is dangerous for this animal, which is why it is usually a cause of death.
• Their stomach is made up of four cavities like cows, which infers that they eat, chew, swallow and then return it to continue chewing.
• They eat a lot of food during the day, doing it at dawn or at dusk.
• In the winter they are kept in caves as shelters to avoid unnecessary energy costs.
• They eat less in the winter due to the shortage of it so they consume what they have accumulated in the fall.

Instructions

1. Deer are agile to run since they have thin legs and hooves divided in two as well as a thin head that helps to divide the air when fleeing, which gives them greater speed to escape from the enemy.
2. They do not have teeth in the upper part of their mouths and they eat with the ones they have below, despite this they use the molars that they have in the back of their mouths to crush the food that they have collected with their teeth and thus digest them better.
3. The largest come to have a body weight and size similar to a horse, which makes it difficult for them to flee from their enemy. Generally, in males, the antlers become an excess of weight that prevents them from moving quickly.
4. They usually live in the densest forests to hide from predators where it is usually difficult for the largest to stay in them, so they usually look for the meadows that form in them to spend most of their time.
5. In general, for all the species that can be found, they have smooth, thick fur that generally sticks to the body, being short on top of it. Males usually have horns, but some females often produce small antlers.
6. They usually adapt to the habitat that surrounds them in forests, plains, mountains, jungles, among many other environments, looking only for places that can hide them from the animals that stalk and chase them to feed on them.
7. They are very sociable and are usually found gathered in herds to take care of each other, although when fleeing they move in opposite directions individually, except for the mothers who are looking for their cubs to hide them.
8. Among the enemies and predators of the deer you can count on the lion, tiger, and leopard, bear that usually hunt them to survive, in addition to the man whose sole purpose of killing it is for meat, leather, and crops as well as for sport.
9. The females usually seek the company of others and form a herd among all of them with their young that generally stay with their mothers until the antlers begin to emerge and the males usually live alone until the time of courtship mating.
10. During the time that the mating courtship lasts, the males usually have their chest and neck much wider as a symbol of power and machismo to attract the attention of the females around them.
11. The males often enter into a dispute for the right to mate with the female, generally doing so through the horns and front legs, ending when there is only one winner.  Females usually have one to two young.
12. Generally the gestation of the deer comes to be six and a half months, ending in a simple delivery where the calf takes to get up and walk between half an hour and a full hour and then start feeding on its mother.
13. The males tend to be very territorial if they come across others within their range, so it is normal to see a male avoiding the property, so to speak, of another, to avoid aggressive and savage confrontations.
14. The females can move between one terrain and another since there is no male rivalry between them that usually accompanies the male deer who mark their territory with strong odors to keep the others away from their domains.
15. The herd usually always lives in the same place, as long as it does not notice the presence of possible predators that kill them and even if they migrate to other latitudes, they will always return to the same place where they have always lived.

Tips

• If you want to feed a deer, remember that they have a somewhat delicate digestive system, so you should wait for it to adapt to the type of food you want to give it, gradually introducing it with another type of food.
• Do not give them foods with fat or carbohydrates since, being herbivores, their stomachs tend not to digest other types of snacks other than those they are used to, such as fruits, plants and tree bark.
• It is possible that getting used to another type of food usually takes a long time, so you must have a little patience so that it adapts to what you want to use to always give it as sustenance if you want to have it as a pet.
• If the deer you have is a pup, you can usually feed it cow’s milk thinned with water  to appease the fat it brings from the mammary glands so that the deer can digest it easily and adapt to it faster.
• Buy food prepared based on alfalfa, oats, molasses and of course that contains vitamins and minerals within its components to provide all the necessary nutrients for the healthy development of their capacities.
• Alternate different types of fruits and vegetables, including grapes, apples and pears with which they can adapt well and also assimilate each nutrient that these contribute to the development of each of their capacities.
• You should never give him corn to feed him since they do not digest it easily due to the problem of the complexity of his system, which can make him sick and die due to this type of food that is not suitable for them.
• Deer are usually like dogs, if they are always fed by the same person in addition to giving them the care and affection they deserve, they will fall in love with that subject whom they can follow everywhere asking for food, so you must be careful.
• Many times when this happens and the man stops feeding the deer it gets sick and dies, because it gets used to something that is abruptly taken away and does not feel like looking for food or sustenance on its own.
• Don’t stop feeding a deer all of a sudden, do it gradually so that he doesn’t feel like he’s being left out, so he can have the willpower to find food elsewhere on his own and it will be easier for him.
• Never separate it from its natural habitat since they are always used to the same place and are usually familiar with their surroundings, so they will always keep in mind where they come from.