Most all North Dakotans are familiar with white-tailed deer and mule deer, but I suspect that most are not familiar the differences between the two.
White-tailed deer are relatively common across the state in a wide variety of habitats, ranging from prairie and woodlands to farm fields and urban areas. They are easily identified when alarmed by “flagging,” running with their white tail raised upright and waving back and forth like a big white metronome, which serves to warn others that danger is present. And of course, the bucks may be observed sporting a large set of antlers with a two main beams with tines growing upward on each side.
Mule deer, on the other hand, range mostly southwest of the Missouri River as well as the adjacent counties north and east of the river. They are generally observed in the rougher habitats such as that found in the North Dakota badlands.
As the common name implies, mule deer have large ears. They have some white on their rear end and tail, but the tail is noticeably smaller with a black tip. No flagging tail in mule deer. Plus, the antlers of mule deer are different. Their antlers form branches, referred to as bifurcate which means the main beams split to form forks. The differences are readily apparent if one looks at head mounts of mule deer and white-tailed deer.
And one of the more interesting aspects of mule deer is their habit of "stotting," instead of running from danger. Stotting may be described as a stiff-legged bounding where all four legs work in unison, leaving and touching the ground at the same time. It is like they have four stiff legs with springs on each foot to go bouncing across the landscape.
Stotting is thought to be a strategy for navigating difficult terrain such as rocky or brushy habitats and steeply sloping areas, such as that in the badlands. It may also serve to inform or alarm other members of a herd to danger, or to confuse or make it more difficult for a predator to pick out one animal in the herd or flock to pursue. And the animal may stott occasionally to perhaps detect a potential predator, thus preventing an ambush. Perhaps stotting serves a combination of these hypotheses.
