When Do Black-tail Fawns Lose Their Spots? Since they spend so much time hiding from predators, like coyotes, nature gave them a lowering heart rate and white spots as a camouflage system since birth, which they will keep until they turn four to five months old.Īround September to late October, fawns will shed their brown-red coat along with their white spots, to grow a thicker and greyer layer to get them ready to survive winter.īy this stage, fawns are strong enough to outrun predators on their own and will start following the doe around for large distances. Whitetail fawns are born somewhere between May and July in the woods, which can be a pretty dangerous place for a newborn creature with wobbly legs that can barely walk short distances, especially as their mother leaves them alone to find food. The main characteristic about these deer is the white hair beneath their tail, along with their brown to red coat and their beautiful antlers, which both male and female have. ![]() The Odocoileus virginianus is native to America and has been introduced in some cities around Europe. Whitetail deer might be one of the most popular and known deer species. When Do Whitetail Fawns Lose Their Spots? These creatures are born in varied colors and weigh around 6 and 16 kg, depending on the species. Most deer fawns are born with white spots for survival purposes except for a couple of species such as baby reindeer and moose, which are called calves instead of fawns because of their larger size. The first group includes species such as Elk, Chital, Red Deer, Sika Deer, and Fallow deer and the second group includes the White-tailed deer, Mule Deer, Moose, and Reindeer. Most of them do! Deer belong to the Cervidae family, which includes almost 43 species divided into two groups: the Cervinae and the Capreolinae. ![]() While the obvious brown coat camouflages on the soil and leaves of the ground, you might be wondering what the white spots have to do with it you see, as sunlight comes through the trees, it creates bright speckles of light on the floor, and that is why the white spots help them recreate a realistic blend with the background.Īnother camouflage feature is that fawns scent glands do not develop fully until a few weeks later, which makes them difficult to smell.Īlso, a doe will lick their fawns, and eat their urine and feces to make their scentless noticeable and keep predators from detecting them. Their white spots serve them as camouflage.įawns spend their first months lying underneath trees and searching for new hiding spots, and since a deer’s natural habit is the forest, their brown coat and spots are supposed to help them blend completely into their environment. Since the colored part covers merely the topcoat, as deer shed their shiny babyfur, the spots disappear.īy this time, six-month-old fawns will have also grown ten times their size and weight, gained enough fat and strength to survive.įawns are born quite fragile, somewhat between six and eight pounds, scentless, with wobbly legs – yes, just like in the movies- and fully coated in their brown coat with white spots.ĭuring the first weeks (even months), a fawn is quite an attractive and vulnerable prey for predators, which is why they have some features that help them survive longer and hide in plain sight. If you observed a hair from the fur of a fawn, you would realize that only the tip is white-colored, but the root is actually brownish-red, like the rest of their body. How Old Are Baby Deer When They Lose Their Spots?Īs adorable as that white pattern may look, b y early fall, around October, fawns will be six months already and have gone through their first fur shed, losing all the spots to grow new and thicker coats of hair. Unless we are talking about the Chital, Sika or Fallow deer, which will keep their white speckles throughout life, or at least trough longer periods, most deer species will start losing their white spots a couple of months after being born, and a couple of months before they become yearlings.įawns need their spots to survive, but as they gain strength, independence, and maturity they will lose their spots completely, which will be after the first 120 days or so. How Long Do Deer Stay With Their Mother?.When Do Mule Deer Fawns Lose Their Spots?. ![]() When Do Black-tail Fawns Lose Their Spots?.When Do Whitetail Fawns Lose Their Spots?.Why Do Baby Deer Fawns Have White Spots?.How Old Are Baby Deer When They Lose Their Spots?.
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