Five different species of deer can be found in Canada: Elk or wapiti (Cervus canadensis), white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), black-tailed deer also referred to as mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus), caribou (Rangifer tarandus) and moose (Alces alces).
Below you will find my images from the first three species taken during our stay in Western Canada. I have regrouped my moose photographs in a separate gallery, hoping that one day I might be able to add pictures of the european form of the moose called elk in British English (not to be confused with the North American term ”elk” referring to wapiti!)
Not quite as imposing as moose, the elk (Cervus canadensis) is nevertheless one of the biggest species within the deer family worldwide. They look very much like our european red deer, to a point where they were long considered a subspecies. Recent genetic studies have shown that they are in fact two distinct species. Whilst they strongly ressemble their european cousin, elk are considerably bigger than red deer – a male typically weighs around 320kg, whereas a red deer stag averages between 160-240kg. Wapiti males are referred to as ”bulls”, females are called ”cows”. During our stay this is definitely the deer species we met most, we had numerous occasions to admire these big impressive creatures, sometimes from a close distance.
White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) is a medium-sized species native to America. Out of all the species of ungulates distributed across the continent it is the one with the widest range and can be found from Canada right down to Peru. Given its vast range, numerous subspecies have been identified. The deer has a characteristic white underside to its tail making it easy to recognise. A raised tail showing the white underside acts as a warning to potential predators that they have been spotted. Despite it being common white-tailed deer seem to be much more shy and secretive than elk. The rare occasions when we did spot one, it was usually just a last glimpse before it dissolved into the roadside shurbs.
Black-tailed deer (Odocoileus hemionus), also called mule deer is a species native to western North America. Unlike its white-tailed cousin, the range of the black-tailed deer is limited to the Pacific coast from California to Alaska, the Rocky Mountains and the western Great Plains. Mule deer, named for its disproportionally large ears are slightly larger than white-tailed deer. Key differences are the configuration of the antlers , tail colour as well as the size of their ears. We only saw this species once, a fawn on Graham Island in Haida Gwaii.
