♪ MUSIC ♪
NARRATOR: The North American
wilderness
is smaller and more
fragmented than ever.
Yet somehow,
the white-tailed deer population
has exploded.
They flourish
where civilization
meets the forest.
On the jagged coast
of Canada's Eastern shore,
A delicate and diverse
ecosystem thrives
on the fringes
of the continent.
Welcome
Welcome
to the Wild Wild East.
NARRATOR: White-tailed deer
were once totally eliminated
from some parts
of the range,
but today there are
more white-tailed deer
in North America than
when Columbus first arrived.
Their success comes from a mix
of human intervention,
and evolutionary
adaptation.
Deer are
highly attuned
to the sights,
sounds
and smells
of predators.
They flee
in the flick
of a tail.
They're highly adaptable
to new surroundings.
And they feast all summer
to survive
winter famine
in the northern woods.
Today human development
is fragmenting the wild,
crowding individual
herds
into smaller
and smaller areas.
And the deer's range
is criss-crossed
with roads
and highways.
Yet somehow the white-tailed
deer continues to thrive
right at the collision point
between man and nature.
This is how life begins
for a white-tailed deer.
It's the most dangerous time
in a deer's life.
It's mid June
and this fawn is just
a week or so old.
This little fawn
has been left alone
while mama goes
out to graze.
It's vulnerable.
The fawn's weighs about
as much an an average house cat,
without any of the sharp
teeth or claws for defense.
A fawn can stand
within minutes,
and walk
within hours of birth.
But its wobbly legs
aren't strong enough
to flee
from a predator,
like this
eastern coyote,
who would love to make
a snack of the little fawn.
The newborn fawn's
defense strategy
is hiding.
They spend more than
90% of their time
bedded down
in tall grass
and other leafy cover.
Its brown coat
stands out to us,
but predators don't see color
the way humans do.
This is how
a bedded fawn appears
to a coyote
or bobcat,
whose eyes don't see
the color red very well,
Its white spots
help it
blend into the sun-dappled
forest floor.
The fawn has much less of
an odor than an adult deer,
thanks to
underdeveloped glands.
This also helps them
disappear to predators
who see as much
with their nose
as with their eyes.
Despite every protection
nature gives it,
about one third of
all fawns die
in the first
30 days of life.
Most snatched
by predators.
If she runs
into trouble,
this little fawn
will call to mama.
Even though
she wandered off to graze,
the fawn's mother
is rarely out of earshot.
(fawn bleats)
(doe huffs)
She calls to baby
by grunting,
and stomping
her hooves,
(doe huffs)
(doe huffs)
(fawn bleats)
(doe huffs)
Mama raises her tail as
a flag for junior to follow.
Now that mother's
finished grazing,
it's baby's turn
for lunch.
The fawn will nurse
four to six times each day.
When feeding's over,
mama licks the baby
stimulating it
to defecate and urinate.
The fawn will
stay close to mother
for its first year
of life.
But even with
the security of family,
only about 25 per cent
of all fawns
make it to
their first birthday.
White-tailed deer
are not native
to this
neck of the woods,
Hunters introduced them
to Nova Scotia
in the 1890s.
Within 40 years,
the deer forged their way
into every county
in the province.
Today, officials reckon
the herd in Nova Scotia
is 100,000 strong.
White-tailed deer now range
from southern Canada
all the way down to the
northern part of South America.
The white tailed deer
is a medium-sized member
of the same family
that includes
moose and caribou.
It measures about
three feet at the shoulder
and six feet
from nose to tail.
An average buck weighs
about 100 pounds
but in the northern parts
of the white-tails range
bucks grow big,
with some outliers
weighing 400 pounds.
To tell the story of
the white-tailed deer
we need to go beyond
Nova Scotia,
to look at the North American
herd as a whole.
At the dawn of
the 20th century, there were
believed to be as few as
500,000 white-tailed deer
in the continental
U.S.A.
The species disappeared
from many places,
mostly thanks to
unregulated hunting.
Hunting restrictions and
habitat expansion,
have helped
the American herd
grow to at least
15 million deer today.
They've become
so successful,
not in spite of
human encroachment,
but at least partially
because of it.
The white-tailed deer
is a creature
of margins and edges,
These deer are foraging
for succulent shoots
and grasses, where the forest
canopy yields to sunlight.
Nowadays, the same
low growth can be found
in clear cuts,
subdivisions
and
beside highways.
In other words, white-tailed
deer are uniquely suited
to thrive
at the place where
the human world
meets the wild world.
It's autumn.
This time of year bucks become
territorial and aggressive,
establishing dominance
in time for the coming rut.
Male deer thrash branches
and leave scent
to warn off
other bucks.
Each winter, the male
sheds his rack,
and new antlers grow
in the spring.
Antlers can grow
up to a quarter-inch each day.
They're made for jousting
over mates,
but can also serve
as a formidable defense
against
any predator.
Battles like this one
determine which bucks
get access to
the most fertile females.
By the time October
rolls around,
the little fawn
has lost her spots,
but she still doesn't
stray too far from mama.
With winter
on the horizon,
a windfall of apples
in this orchard
is just what a herd of
white-tailed deer needs.
Between now and
the time the snow flies,
they need to increase
their body weight.
They'll need it because
the tender green plants,
acorns, mushrooms and
flowers they dine on
will be nowhere to be found
come winter.
Every few minutes or so,
a deer stops,
smells and
listens for danger.
Then they keep walking,
eating on the go.
Foraging like this
keeps deer on the move
and helps elude
predators.
The white-tailed deer
is adapted
to a life of
constant vigilance,
and they feed
and move in herds,
protection in numbers.
More than forward,
a deer's eyes look out.
They're situated on
the sides of the head,
to provide
a wide field of vision.
To amplify
the tiniest noise,
their ears
move independently.
Their nose contains
297 olfactory receptors,
that's more than
dogs have,
and 60 times
what a human has.
They can sniff out
a predator approaching
from a distance of greater
than 100 yards.
When they do catch a whiff,
they let the herd know,
a snort, a stomp,
a flick of the tail,
warns other deer
to flee.
They run beautifully,
powerful legs
propelling them
at speeds
of up to 30 miles
per hour.
And a fleeing deer
is capable of leaps
six feet high
and thirty feet long.
Depending on how much
there is to go around,
a deer's quest for food
can require a lot of space.
This time of year,
grazing can bring them into
human habitations.
Deer will happily eat
a gardener's prized lettuce
or chow down on
agricultural crops.
That's put the white-tailed deer
in the crosshairs
of some people who see
these backyard browsers
as a pest.
Living too close to each other
can be dangerous
for both deer
and people.
Suburban deer habitats
are fragmented by roads.
Roads mean cars.
Cars can be fatal.
Nobody keeps track
of how many deer
are killed
on highways.
But they do track
the human casualties.
In the United States alone
about 200 people die each year
from collisions between
vehicles and deer.
Governments have tried
raising hunting quotas,
and building high fences
around roadsides
to curb the problem.
But the jury's out
on whether these measures
are working
to prevent clashes
between mankind
and deer.
It's December.
Snow blankets
the ground
as the mercury plunges
below freezing.
This is a time
of tremendous stress
and difficulty
for white-tailed deer,
They must brave a long,
cold, and hungry winter.
This time of year,
deer typically retreat
into the forest.
Stands of evergreen trees
provide some shelter
from snow and wind.
Smaller family groups
merge together into
larger herds
in wooded areas
known as deer yards.
By now, our little fawn
looks a lot like her mother,
just a little smaller,
with a shorter snout.
Evolution provides
all deer
with some specific
adaptations
to survive
this bleak season.
Thick grayish fur replaces
spring's sleek reddish coat.
The shaft of each hair
is hollow
providing an extra
layer of insulation.
Fall feasting packed fat
on the deer's body
to survive
the coming cold.
On the whole, it gives the deer
a sturdier, thicker appearance.
The tender green shoots and
grass of spring are gone.
To find food
in the frozen forest
deer forage for meager meals
of woody stems
and bits of dry leaf.
The deer often venture closer
to the human world,
to find something
more tempting on offer.
Humans hoping to catch
a glimpse of deer,
leave out apples and grain
in their backyards.
But what's good for well-meaning
nature lovers,
is bad for
white-tailed deer.
They could be
conditioning the deer
to spend even more time
close to people.
And they could be
feeding them to death.
Over the winter, microorganisms
in the deer's four stomachs
become accustomed
to digesting woody material,
like stems
and branches.
the deer's natural
wintertime diet.
Like a ravenous teenager
glutting itself on junk food,
a deer may gorge on
tasty apples and corn,
though she has trouble
digesting them.
The radical menu change
is a shock to a system
already weakened
from winter stress.
It's a feast, when they're
supposed to be in famine,
and it can be fatal.
Deer sometimes
starve to death
with bellies full
of apples and corn.
They just
can't process
the sudden onslaught
of unfamiliar food.
Their digestive systems
are simply overwhelmed.
Fights over
the unexpected bounty
could lead
to competition,
and displays
of aggression.
Deer communicate with each other
through body language.
Ears back, the lowest
level of threat.
Back off,
those are my apples.
That's usually enough
to calm everyone's
temper,
the deer's non-verbal
communication strategies
manifest themselves
in the subtlest ways.
A head held high connotes
dominance within the herd,
sending smaller deer searching
for greener pastures.
The deer-loving human's
want to help the animals
make it
through winter,
but they've accidentally
created a turf war.
Smaller deer are easily chased
off by their older counterparts.
The waters of March
signal the end
of the cold season.
As the snow melts,
patches of green appear
in the fields of white.
The white-tailed deer's
burned through
almost all its reserves
of body fat by now.
If the thaw comes late,
many don't survive.
On the outskirts
of the city,
the deer come out
to graze
on manicured lawns
and in public parks.
Still, the workers
at this office
rarely see
these visitors.
Deer are
crepuscular,
which means they're most
active in the hours
around dawn
and dusk.
These creatures
of the forest
make their city homes
along rail lines,
in electricity corridors
and other urban
green spaces,
living their lives
on the edges
of our world.
Some of these doe are
almost certainly pregnant.
They'll carry their fawns
for another three months.
This little fawn
has beaten the odds,
surviving
her first winter.
Female fawns spend longer
with their mother than males.
This mother/daughter
combination
could stay together
for another year.
Some stick together
for life.
Some researchers think
city deer have an easier life
than their country cousins.
There's plenty of food,
and fewer predators
and hunting is against
the law inside city limits.
But there are trade-offs
to each way of life.
If she can stay away
from cars,
this yearling might live
to be 20 years old.
The life of the white-tailed
deer is lived on the edge.
On the boundary between nature
and civilization,
On constant alert
for predators.
Yet, against all odds,
the white-tailed deer
has been
wildly successful.
In just 100 years,
its gone from a species
on the brink of collapse,
to an almost
ubiquitous resident
on the fringes
on the fringes
of the Wild Wild East.
♪ THEME MUSIC ♪
