| Communication |
| Casual side-to-side motion without hairs erect, indicates that the deer senses no danger. This motion is similar to cattle or horses. A sharp side-to-side motion with the tail horizontal or upright with hairs erect, signs a mild alarm. With the tail flicking in such a manner means the deer has sensed something wrong, but does not know how to react. The deer may stop eating and raise its head or continue to feed and jerk up again. If the deer believes there is no danger it will probably continue to eat or resume normal behavior. It the problem continues it will leave. A whitetail by holding its tail horzontally or upright with hairs erect without any movement will alert other whitetails and it will quickly bring its group together. This signal is an alert that there is an intruder but does not know where. The deer will stand motionless only moving its eyes and ears to find the problem. Once the deer in convinced that danger is imminent it will run for safety. During its run the deer will hold its tail upright waving it back and forth, exposing the white underside and rump patch. The tail will look bigger than it is due to the hail being flared. In dense areas, deer will signal less than they would in open areas. Visual alerts are more prominate than vocalization. Deer, especially doe, will snort when distrubed or alarmed. Injured deer will make a bawl sound that warns other deer to flee. Foot stomping will also be used to alert others but its only good for short distances. |