<P> The white - tailed deer is a ruminant, which means it has a four - chambered stomach . Each chamber has a different and specific function that allows the deer to eat a variety of different foods, digesting it at a later time in a safe area of cover . The stomach hosts a complex set of microbes that change as the deer's diet changes through the seasons . If the microbes necessary for digestion of a particular food (e.g., hay) are absent, it will not be digested . </P> <P> Several natural predators of white - tailed deer occur . Wolves, cougars, American alligators, jaguars (in the tropics), and humans are the most effective natural predators of white - tailed deer . These predators frequently pick out easily caught young or infirm deer (which is believed to improve the genetic stock of a population), but can and do take healthy adults of any size . Bobcats, Canada lynx, bears, wolverines, and packs of coyotes usually prey mainly on fawns . Bears may sometimes attack adult deer, while lynxes, coyotes, and wolverines are most likely to take adult deer when the ungulates are weakened by harsh winter weather . Many scavengers rely on deer as carrion, including New World vultures, raptors, foxes, and corvids . Few wild predators can afford to be picky and any will readily consume deer as carrion . Records exist of American crows attempting to prey on white - tailed deer fawns by pecking around their face and eyes, though no accounts of success are given . Occasionally, both golden and bald eagles may capture deer fawns with their talons . In one case, a golden eagle was filmed in Illinois unsuccessfully trying to prey on a large mature white - tailed deer . </P> <P> White - tailed deer typically respond to the presence of potential predators by breathing very heavily (also called blowing) and fleeing . When they blow, the sound alerts other deer in the area . As they run, the flash of their white tails warns other deer . This especially serves to warn fawns when their mother is alarmed . Most natural predators of white - tailed deer hunt by ambush, although canids may engage in an extended chase, hoping to exhaust the prey . Felids typically try to suffocate the deer by biting the throat . Cougars and jaguars will initially knock the deer off balance with their powerful forelegs, whereas the smaller bobcats and lynxes will jump astride the deer to deliver a killing bite . In the case of canids and wolverines, the predators bite at the limbs and flanks, hobbling the deer, until they can reach vital organs and kill it through loss of blood . Bears, which usually target fawns, often simply knock down the prey and then start eating it while it is still alive . Alligators snatch deer as they try to drink from or cross bodies of water, grabbing them with their powerful jaws and dragging them into the water to drown . </P> <P> Most primary natural predators of white - tailed deer have been basically extirpated in eastern North America, with a very small number of reintroduced red wolves, which are nearly extinct, around North Carolina and a small remnant population of Florida panthers, a subspecies of the cougar . Gray wolves, the leading cause of deer mortality where they overlap, co-occur with whitetails in northern Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, and parts of Canada . This almost certainly plays a factor in the overpopulation issues with this species . Coyotes, widespread and with a rapidly expanding population, are often the only major nonhuman predator of the species, besides an occasional domestic dog . In some areas, American black bears are also significant predators . In northcentral Pennsylvania, black bears were found to be nearly as common predators of fawns as coyotes . Bobcats, still fairly widespread, usually only exploit deer as prey when smaller prey is scarce . Discussions have occurred regarding the possible reintroduction of gray wolves and cougars to sections of the eastern United States, largely because of the apparent controlling effect they have through deer predation on local ecosystems, as has been illustrated in the reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone National Park and their controlling effect on previously overpopulated elk . However, due to the heavy urban development in much of the East and fear for livestock and human lives, such ideas have ultimately been rejected by local communities and / or by government services and have not been carried through . </P>

Where do white tailed deer get their water