As summer arrives, deer adjust their behavior and habitat preferences, driven by their needs for sustenance, hydration, refuge from heat, and safe breeding grounds. These seasonal adjustments are crucial for their survival and well-being.
Meeting Essential Summer Needs
Summer demands abundant food. Their diet shifts from woody winter browse to lush, easily digestible summer vegetation. Deer actively seek plants high in protein, crucial for antler growth in bucks, milk production in lactating does, and rapid development in fawns. They consume forbs, herbaceous plants, and agricultural crops like corn and soybeans.
Water is key during warmer months, as deer need increased hydration. A deer typically requires two to three quarts of water per 100 pounds of body weight daily, a need that escalates in hotter conditions. While some moisture comes from plants, direct sources like streams, ponds, and morning dew are important, especially for does nursing fawns.
Thermal comfort influences summer habitat choices. Deer seek dense shade to escape high temperatures, especially when air temperatures exceed 84-85°F. Areas providing 90% shade are preferred, offering relief from heat stress. This cover includes thickets, dense forest canopies, and riparian zones, which maintain cooler conditions.
Birthing season influences habitat selection for does. They seek secluded, protected areas for fawning, typically in late spring or early summer. These sites offer concealment and safety for newborn fawns, vulnerable during their initial weeks. The doe often isolates herself, using dense vegetation to hide her offspring from predators.
Prime Summer Habitats
Dense forests and woodlots provide ample forage, thermal, and hiding cover. They offer a protective canopy that shades the ground and understory, creating cooler conditions.
Riparian zones and wetlands near water bodies like rivers, streams, and marshes are attractive. They provide hydration, support lush vegetation for foraging, and often have cooler temperatures due to water. Deer frequently use these corridors for travel and bedding.
Agricultural fields, especially corn, soybeans, or alfalfa, become food sources. Deer venture into these fields to feed on the protein-rich crops, often retreating to dense cover of field edges or nearby woodlands for security during daylight hours. The availability of these crops can influence deer movement patterns.
Deer increasingly inhabit suburban and exurban landscapes. These environments offer food from gardens and ornamental plants, plus green spaces and natural corridors for cover. Deer in these areas often bed down within 50 meters of residential properties, adapting to human presence.
Summer Behavior and Life Cycle
During summer, several life cycle and behavioral changes occur. Bucks undergo rapid antler development, beginning in late March or early April. Their growing antlers are covered in a soft tissue called velvet, which supplies nutrients for growth, with some bucks adding 1 to 1.5 inches per week. By late August, antlers reach full size and begin to harden, shedding velvet in late August or early September.
The fawning season (May and June) is when does give birth to one to three fawns. Newborn fawns are “hiders,” spending their first few weeks alone and motionless, relying on spotted coats and lack of scent for camouflage against predators. The doe makes brief, infrequent nursing visits, often moving fawns to new bedding sites to minimize scent accumulation. Fawns begin to supplement their mother’s milk with forage around two weeks of age, gradually weaning by 10 to 16 weeks.
Deer increase nocturnal activity during summer. To conserve energy and avoid heat, they become more active during the cooler hours of dawn, dusk, and night. This is a common adaptation, allowing them to forage and move more comfortably while minimizing encounters with humans.
Bucks often form “bachelor groups” during spring and summer. These groups, including bucks of various ages, typically share common bedding and feeding areas. Conversely, does and their fawns usually remain in smaller, family groups, prioritizing the protection and rearing of their young.