Deer Family of North America

Drawings are of a Whitetail Deer, a Mule Deer, an Elk and a Moose.  All drawings are of males.  I have not included a reindeer or caribou nor a red deer or a pronghorn antelope...yet.  I'll do some of them for a later post.  There are actually many members of the deer family.  

Mule Deer

Mule deer are our native deer here in the Rocky Mountains of Utah.  They weigh up to 300 pounds and they are up to 7 feet long.  The males, if you count their antlers, can be over 5 feet tall. Mule deer are named for their long mule-like ears.  They are twice the size of their smaller whitetail deer cousins.  Mule deer have a white tail that has a black tip.  Mule deer antlers branch or in a two tonged fork pattern.  

Whitetail Deer

Whitetail deer are smaller.  They only weigh up to 150 pounds.  They have a tail that is brown on the back but the underside is bright white.  They lift it to warn other deer in the herd of danger.   Whitetail deer are found mostly east of the Rocky Mountains.... They are very common east of the Mississippi River.  Whitetail deer have a black tips on the end of their ears.  Whitetail deer antlers branch by smaller points come off of one main branch.

Bull Elk calling for a Mate

Elk are a larger member of the deer family.  They are native to our rocky mountains.  They have loud horn like sound when the males are calling for females.  Male or bull elk are over 700 pounds and are over seven feet tall…if you count the antlers. 

Bull Moose eating Lily Pads

The Moose is the largest member of the deer family.  It can be over 9 feet tall (if you count the antlers)  and weigh 1600 pounds.  Moose love to eat lily pads while they wade in ponds…during the summer.  I once got too close to a mother moose and her calf in Yellowstone National Park.  She charged me and I dived into a small thicket of trees so she could not get at me to stomp me.  She was only defending her baby…but all I had was a camera.   In fact, you can’t even hunt in Yellowstone National Park.   Still, I learned my lesson about getting too close to wildlife.   ESPECIALLY a mother who feels she is defending her young!