White Tail / Mule Deer Hybrids

     For years, we have only had mule deer around our property.  That’s a mule deer on the right side of the photo above.  Mule deer are brown in color, bulky, and have a short tail, among other characteristics.  We rarely saw white tail deer around our place, but they are common in other places around the Valley.  White tail deer are more tan in color, longer, with skinnier legs, and have a characteristic long white tail.  Photo on the left above.

    The other day when I showed my friend Ingrid the photo of the mother deer with the three fawns, she immediately said, “She must be a cross between a mule deer and a white tail.“   

    I guess I hadn’t paid much attention to how the mother deer looked.  I just assumed it was a white tail deer, but Ingrid pointed out that it had a very short tail with a black tip.   I hadn’t realized that the two deer varieties interbred, but I guess they sometimes do in areas where the two species both live, and in those areas, seeing hybrid deer are not that unusual.  

    There are two of these hybrids (and the three fawns) that are presently hanging around our house.  They don’t seem that shy around me, but then, I haven’t really chased them away. 

    Below is a photo of the white tail /mule deer-cross that has been frequenting our yard.

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