What Do Deer Like to Eat? A Detailed Look at Deer Diet and Common Foods

Deer (animals of the family Cervidae) generally refers to the family Cervidae, with about 34 species worldwide, belonging to 16 genera and about 52 species. Representative species include sika deer, red deer, reindeer, and so on. So what do deer like to eat?

1. What do deer like to eat?

Deer are typical herbivorous animals and like to eat grass, bark, twigs and saplings, but what each species of deer likes to eat differs. For example, sika deer mainly feed on vines and herbaceous plants, such as kudzu vine, Polygonum multiflorum, Changium smyrnioides, strawberries, etc.; red deer feed on trees, shrubs and herbaceous plants, with as many as several hundred species; while the main food of reindeer is reindeer lichen, and they also eat horsetail, mushrooms and the tender branches and leaves of woody plants.

2. How do deer reproduce?

Tropical deer have no fixed breeding season, come into estrus multiple times a year, and their antlers do not shed; temperate deer mate from late autumn to winter, mostly with one male to multiple females, and each litter produces 1-2 young, up to 3-4 young. They are mainly distributed in Eurasia, North America, and the regions of South America north of 40° south latitude, as well as southwestern Africa. But the reproductive habits of each species of deer differ slightly. For example:

1. Reindeer

The mating season is from mid-September to October each year, with intense competition for females, and an estrous cycle of 13-22 days. The conception rate is relatively high, the gestation period is 225-240 days, and young are born in April-May. Usually 1 young is born, occasionally 2. The lactation period is 165-180 days. Females reach sexual maturity at 1.5 years old, and some well-developed individuals can participate in reproduction in the same year, continuing until 14 years old, with strong reproductive capacity; males reach sexual maturity later. Reindeer can live up to 20 years.

2. Red deer

The estrus period of red deer is concentrated in September-October each year, generally lasting 2-3 days, with an estrous cycle of 7-12 days. The gestation period of females is 225-262 days, and they give birth in concealed places such as thickets and tall grass, usually with 1 young per litter.

3. Sika deer

Adult sika deer reproduce once a year. From September to October each year, male sika deer mate with multiple females. The gestation period of females is about 30 weeks, and they give birth from May to June the following year, with one fawn per litter, and cases of 2 young are extremely rare.