Habitat
In Alaska, inhabit wet rain forests of the coast. In summer, can be found in high alpine meadows and subalpine shrub thickets. In fall and winter, move down to lower elevations old-growth and beaches to forage. Critical winter habitat characteristics in the north include adequate stands of uneven-aged old-growth forests more than two hundred years old (Schoen and Kirchoff 2007, Suring et al. 1992, Wallmo 1981).
References
Schoen, J. W., and M. Kirchoff. 2007. Sitka black-tailed deer (Odocoileus hemionus sitkensis). In The coastal forests and mountains ecoregion of southeastern Alaska and the Tongass National Forest: A conservation assessment and resource synthesis (J. W. Schoen and E. Dovichin, eds.). Audubon Alaska and The Nature Conservancy, Anchorage, Alaska.
Suring, L. H., D. C. Crocker-Bedford, R. W. Flynn, C. L. Hale, G. C. Iverson, M. D. Kirchoff, T. E. Schenck II, L. C. Sea, and K. Titus. 1992. A strategy for maintaining well-distributed, viable populations of wildlife associated with old growth forest in Southeast Alaska. Report of an Interagency Committee, Juneau.
Wallmo, O.C. 1981. The mule and black-tailed deer of North America. 605 pp.
