Whitetail Deer

Diamondlike dew shimmers on the golden-tinged grasses of the mountain near a small pond amid the meadow as I prepare for my early morning encounter. Overhead, a white-breasted nuthatch studies my camouflaged figure, the chestnut-colored undertail covert feathers glistening. Behind me, the soft tumble of oak leaves heralds autumn. I glimpse movement at the meadow's edge. Turning, I see a threepoint buck. Oddly, he appears smaller and lighter than the other bucks I have seen here. Moreover, his antler tines curve and thrust forward in the middle to suggest a cage. The buck approaches and the morning sunlight accentuates the rippling muscles of his neck and shoulders. Standing sideways only a few yards away, the deer flicks its long tail, exposing the white underside of an Arizona Coues whitetail buck. Odocoileus virginianus couesi is one of 17 subspecies of whitetail deer found in North America. An estimated 85,000 to 90,000 Coues whitetails inhabit Arizona, with a heavy concentration in the southeastern redoubts of the Chiricahua, Santa Rita and Huachuca mountain ranges. Coues deer also inhabit the desert regions of southwestern New Mexico and into Mexico. The name Coues, pronounced widely as "coos," should be pronounced "cows" after the Army surgeon and ornithologist who first classified the deer. Often the small Coues coexist with the larger Rocky Mountain and desert mule deer, which they resemble to the untrained eye. One of America's smallest deer, a Coues whitetail buck may measure 31 inches high at the shoulders and weigh up to 125 pounds. Fawns weigh 4 to 6 pounds at birth and about 30 pounds at the age of 3 months.Coues deer are elusive animals; a buck would rather hide than run. They can flatten their flaglike white tails with the brown sides out and sneak through thickets by crawling, catlike, on their bellies. The cunning Coues deer are less curious about humans than humans are about them. Unlike mule deer, an alarmed Coues raises its tail to warn other deer while making a hasty departure. Occasionally, whitetail bucks have been known to run with their tails clamped down, but the does almost always display the broad white tail when running. Perhaps that's because the flaglike tail flash can help guide fawns to safety. On the other hand, perhaps they're just flaunting their escape to the predators. Even experts can have trouble telling a Coues from a mule deer at a distance. But you can bet that if you see a final flip of a white tail, you've just encountered one of Arizona's elusive whitetail deer. All

Coues deer are adept at concealment (opposite page), but when alarmed, they display their white tails in warning to others. A buck (above) usually weighs about 100 pounds, but the largest specimens can go to 125. A doe like this mother nursing her two offspring usually has a single fawn at her first pregnancy, then often has twins thereafter.

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