Pennsylvania State Animal
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Picture used with permission from Northland Images
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The Whitetail Deer (Odocoileus virginanus) is the official state animal, as enacted by the General Assembly
on October 2, 1959. The male deer, or buck, grows antlers each year. These antlers are used as weapons during mating season and then are shed. They have glands on their legs and feet which are used to produce scents to communicate to other deer. Whitetail deer inhabit most of southern Canada and all of the mainland United States except two or three states in the west. Their range reaches throughout Central America to Bolivia. Whitetail deer feed on a variety of vegetation, depending on what is available in their habitat. In eastern forests, buds and twigs of maple, sassafras, poplar, aspen and birch among others. Deer were used as food and buckskin by the settlers and Indian tribes. |
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