Columbian Black Tailed Deer,
The Deer of the the Northwest

      The Odocoileus hemiounus columbianus, or more commonly known as the Columbian black tailed deer, is one of the subspecies of the mule deer (Mihaylo 2009). In fact it is believed to be one of the first of the subspecies to differ into the mule deer group (Mihaylo 2009).  Relatives to the Columbian black tailed deer are the white tailed deer (Odocoileus virinianus), the mule deer (odocoileus hemionus), the reindeer ( Rangifer tarandus), the moose (Alces alces), and the  Roosevelt elk ( Cervus canadensis roosevelti).  A female Columbian black tailed deer silhouetted in the morning sun.

     This wonderful creature can be found on the west coast of North America (Kucera and Mayer 1999). The black tailed deer’s usual habitat can be found in an oak forest (Bower and Kie 2009).  When looking for a male black tailed it can be easily identified by the great antlers on their head. These antlers are non-living and fall off each winter (WDFW 2013).

    A male (left) and female (right) Columbian black tailed deer.

To learn more about the Columbian black tailed deer go to the websites below.
http://wdfw.wa.gov/living/deer.html
http://animals.pawnation.com/blacktailed-deer-6477.html
http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Odocoileus_hemionus/

This webpage is a project for an organismal biology class at the University of Wisconsin- La Crosse.  For more information about the University of Wisconsin –La Crosse biology department go to http://www.uwlax.edu/biology/. 
To find more websites like this one go to http://multipleorganisms.net.

 Learn about about the Columbian black tailed deer on the Classification page.
Go to MultipleOrganisms.net.