Category: White-tailed Deer Q&A

Deer Stomping Ground?

Have you ever seen a deer stomping its front foot on the ground? It’s not something most of us notice unless we are out in the woods, somewhere that deer do not normally see humans, pets or other things not normally encountered by them in nature. In areas where deer are acclimated to seeing more suburban things, we do not often see deer stomping the ground, though they will too from time to time. In these areas, deer usually just walk away when they see something they don’t approve of.

Whitetail Stomping Ground

A deer is sending a message when it is stomping the ground. The message reads, “I don’t know what you are or what you are up to, but I do not like it. Move on!” In short, a deer stomping a front foot/hoof against the ground is a way of telling you or something else to get lost, go away.

The stomping of foot is not a sign of aggression towards humans, although dogs and coyotes and other mid-sized critters should definitely stay out of the way because these animals ARE seen as an immediate threat.

The stomping of a foot is one way for a deer to “test” what it is looking at. If a deer sees something that it is unsure of, the deer may stomp the ground just to get a response. You may concurrently experience a deer blowing or snorting at you. It’s basically trying to make you or something flinch in order to what it is, if it’s alive and if it is a danger to them.

Don’t Stomp Off Mad

Deer are not necessarily mad when they stomp, but they are telling you that they are aware of you, they see you, even if they do not know what you are. Whitetail deer do not see colors very well. In fact, they have a difficult time seeing colors as we see them, although they do see good the blue spectrum very well.

Just know that when a deer is stomping the ground it’s essentially for two reasons: 1) The deer knows that something is out of the ordinary, and 2) The deer is trying to get a response from something that it has not yet identified as a threat.

Do Deer Dig?

Both white-tailed deer and mule deer can dig. In fact, they are pretty darn good at it. When they sense, smell something they want they waste no time getting to if, even if they must do a little excavation in the process.

How Do Deer Dig?

Deer are ungulates, which means they have hooves. Hooves are modified feet, but a hoof is engineered quite a bit different from one of our feet. Deer and humans basically have all the same parts/bones, but if humans were built like deer we would essentially be walking on the tips of our toes. A hoof is a larger version of a fingernail, toenail.

Though hooves are great for walking on uneven terrain, they are also good for digging things up, such as your yard!

Why Do Deer Dig Yards?

Deer feed on a variety of plants and trees found in our yards. Deer love fruits, flowers and new-growth stems found no shrubs and vines. I think deer often get the blame for digging up residential lawns when in fact they are not the culprit. There are a lot of other animals out there that dig too, like armadillos, skunks and even raccoons.

But deer can and will go below the surface when they need to.

Deer, bucks in particular, scrape the ground during the breeding season but both sexes will dig in search of minerals, tubers and bulbs. This makes most home landscaped yards nothing more than deer buffets. Property owners must be aware of the types of plants they establish in yard, taking steps to use plants not attractive to deer, if they wish to prevent deer digging in the yard.