Key Deer

Although able to utilize a variety of habitats, Key deer require upland vegetative communities such as pine rocklands and hardwood hammocks as primary habitats to meet the species’ year-round needs. 

Like other deer species, Key deer are herbivores, meaning they eat plants and not meat. Key deer are known to eat more than 160 different plant species. Some of their primary food sources include red mangroves, blackbead, grasses, pineland acacia, Indian mulberry and pencil flower. The Key deer’s diet varies throughout the year, likely due to seasonal availability and nutritional needs.

Key deer can best be seen at dawn or dusk throughout Big Pine Key and often south to Lower Sugarloaf Key. Key deer are wild animals, they may, however, approach people and vehicles looking for handouts. Please help keep Key deer healthy and wild by not approaching or feeding them.

The smallest race of North American deer, adult Key deer measure 25 to 30 inches at the shoulder and have an average weight of 55 to 75 pounds for males and 45 to 65 pounds for females. Their body is stockier, legs shorter, and skull wider than other races of white-tailed deer.   

The Key deer’s coat varies from a deep reddish brown to a grizzled, gray color.

Adults, particularly males, make a variety of grunting noises that are used to communicate different messages such as territory defense or simply to inform others of their presence. Fawns and does have another sound known as bleating, which is a high-pitched vibrating sound used between each other to communicate distress or need for attention.

In general, annual survival for males is lower than annual female survival. Life expectancy for female Key deer averages 6.5 years (maximum observed 19 years) and 2.9 years (maximum observed 12 years) for male Key deer.

The breeding season for Key deer begins in September, peaks in October, and declines through December and January. Younger animals breed later in the season, if at all. Male and female fawns are not reproductively active. Most yearling males do not breed; however, many females will breed as yearlings. Even adults may fail to breed, especially young bucks that are excluded from breeding by older, more aggressive males. Fawn season peaks in April and May, although spotted fawns have been observed in every month of the year. The coincidence of fawning with the rainy season ensures an ample food supply for lactating females. Deer prefer open hammocks and pinelands as fawning habitats.