Wherever you are, white-tailed deer are lovely to look at with their tawny brown and white-marked muscular bodies. Their "famed" white tail actually flips up to warn nearby deer of danger and is also used to guide fawns through dark woodlands. Very rarely, "calico" or "piebald" deer may be seen in the wild. Irregularly marked with white where they would normally be brown, and sometimes even very white or gray in color, they are not true albinos (full white coats and pink eyes), which are extremely rare.

Of course, if you’ve ever seen the movie "Bambi," you know that fawns have a sprinkling of white spots on their backs, resembling the dappling of sun on forest leaf litter. It’s pretty amazing how all deer can use their camouflage to blend right into the vegetation, helping them hide from predators. If while exploring you happen to come across an unattended fawn, do not assume that it is in need of rescue. Your presence is most likely already noted by the nearby mother and will not cause her to abandon her baby.

Deer have only a few predators -- mostly humans, bobcats and the relatively small population of remaining Florida Panthers.

When viewing deer, remain quiet and still, and they may simply continue to feed or browse. Deer eat about 4 pounds of vegetation each day, and it may take up to 36 hours for them to digest the meal you observe them eating. Preferring to feed on leaves, succulent shrubs, vines, acorns, mushrooms and even aquatic plants, deer appear very particular as you watch them feed. Deer readily feed on citrus trees also, so look for them in areas adjacent to orange groves, too.

For me, deer have been a commonly seen species nearly all my life. Growing up in the Pocono Mountains of northeastern Pennsylvania, I saw deer every day. Currently, I enjoy viewing them with nearly the same frequency at Highlands Hammock State Park in Sebring. This park has a historical "orange grove" where folks set up their lawn chairs for the "deer show" nearly every evening near sundown.

It’s hard to believe that years ago, back in the 1930s, our deer population was nearly extirpated in an effort to reduce tick-borne diseases. Now at this time, the deer populations are quite stable, and this large mammal of the Florida woods continues to thrive in the wild places.

For more information on deer and other Florida wildlife, visit the University of Florida Extension Digital Information Source Web site.

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