Mule Deer Doe

We found this mule deer along the Blacktail Deer Creek Trail, which descends from the Blacktail Plateau. So, why isn't this called "Mule Deer Creek"? The Blacktail deer (or Columbian blacktail deer) is found in the Pacific Northwest. Historically, some observers reported them in the Northern Rockies. The scientific name of the Blacktail deer, Odocoileus hemionus columbianus, makes it look like a subspecies of the Mule deer, Odocoileus hemionus or Odocoileus hemionus hemionus. Whether that classification is right or not is apparently an open question. Whatever the science, it's not hard to see Mule deer in woods and shrubby areas near the Black Canyon of the Yellowstone. Photo taken mid-June 2008.