Identifying Mule Deer

Mule Deer

Reddish coloring in summer and blue-gray in winter. Cream-colored rump patch with black-tipped cream tail. Ears are larger than the white-tailed deer's. Antlers branch equally.

Habitat and Habits

Lives in forests, desert shrubs, thickets of shrubs, trees, grasslands, plains, foothills, and river bottoms. Herbivore. Lives up to 16 years. Male is polygamous; rut runs Oct.–Dec. One to two spotted fawns is typical.