All deer are beautiful and precious, but one species in particular manages to rise among them and steal the title of cutest deer ever: the mule deer. Don't believe me? Here's just a few samples.
The name mule deer is a clear reference to their massive mule-like ears, they are incredibly foofy and that fur acts as insulation against the cold, since they tend to live in deserts and on mountains where the temperature can be very rough. This also means their winter coat is super thick and warm, making them almost immune to the cold and turning them into super huggable walking heaters.
I keep seeing these gorgeous babies being called "lame", "boring", or "plain", near identical to the typical whitetail, but this couldn't be further from the truth. Mule deer behavior and society are radically different from their distant cousins, making them a very fascinating species to observe.
Mule deer live in pretty large herds controlled by a matriarch, who establishes the order and decides when to migrate. Mule deer are in fact a migrating species, every year herds of thousands of mule deer traverse hundreds of thousands of miles following the same path that was taught to them by the previous generations. At the end of migration season they'll walk the road back to their favorite winter home range.
Behaviorally speaking mule deer are completely different to whitetails as well, despite the average mule deer being a lot larger and more muscular than most whitetails they tend to be very shy and will usually avoid conflict, even when faced by a smaller opponent. Mule deer fights rarely last more than a few seconds, these big pillows with hooves prefer a chill life in the desert, where they can see predators coming from very far away. This aspect makes it somewhat didfficult to record high quality footage of wild mule deer, they have good hearing and eyesight, and will hop away from danger with their unique "stotting" before you can even catcth a good glimpse of them.
Joe Hutto
Joe Hutto is the author of the amazing book and documentary Touching the Wild: Living with the Mule Deer of Deadman Gulch, where he tells about his experience living in the middle of a herd of wild untamed mule deer for several years. Joe was slowly accepted as part of the herd as first a single deer decided to trust him and get closer to him, and then more and more saw in him a member of their own, putting him in an incredible position from where he could observe, document, and live mule deer society.
His work is of inestimable value for anyone interested in understanding these incredible animals, as nobody else described and observed from so close deer society in the wild. The book tells of very intelligent animals living in a society more complex and with more norms than one might think. The documentary features a lot of great videos of him interacting with the deer who now fully trust him and let him groom them and keep them company every day.
The two videos below are clips from the documentay, showing Joe's first contact with a deer of the herd and the herd's return from their journey.
- How a Human Became Part of a Wild Mule Deer Herd- Wild Mule Deer Herd Reunion
