A couple of weeks ago, our Infrastructure Manager, Andrés González, and our Environmental Director, Michael García, were out on a routine inspection in the area near the road to Zapotal. It is a round they make often, and they have crossed paths with deer there many times. This time, however, one of them stayed long enough to be photographed.
Most deer photos catch the animal in motion, but these turned out to be almost a lesson in themselves, because each one shows us something worth knowing about these animals.
The first thing the photos tell us is the species: a white-tailed deer, known in Spanish as venado cola blanca. In the first photo, we see the feature that gives it its name: the white underside of the tail, raised high as he moved off. What we have not shared before is that this behavior has a name. It is called “flagging,” and it happens when a deer notices something unfamiliar. The raised tail works as a signal that alerts other deer nearby and helps a group keep track of one another as they move. According to researchers, it also tells a potential predator that it has already been noticed. So when it seems that deer are always running, much of what we are seeing is a prey animal’s caution at work. Their best defense is to spot trouble early and leave before it gets close.
In the second photo, however, you will notice two short, unbranched antlers. Only males grow antlers, and simple spikes like these usually point to a young buck. One of the more fascinating facts about deer is that their antlers are shed and regrown, and in the dry forest of northwestern Costa Rica, research at Santa Rosa National Park has found that antler growth and births follow the wet and dry seasons, with most fawns arriving in the dry months.
To close this edition’s lesson on deer, there is one more fact we could not leave out. In 1995, Costa Rica declared the white-tailed deer one of its national symbols, naming it the symbol of the country’s wildlife, largely to protect it from the heavy hunting it faced at the time. Hunting the species is now prohibited, and seeing deer move freely through the forest around Town is something we never take for granted. Each sighting is a welcome sign that the land around Las Catalinas still offers wildlife the cover and space it needs.
Our four-legged friend did not stay long. Before slipping back into the trees, he stopped, turned his head, and looked straight at the two of them. Andrés was quick to pull out his phone and capture the photos we are sharing today. Deer are not a rare sight along our trails, yet each encounter still surprises us, and this one happened to illustrate two of their most distinctive traits. Just as important, these encounters always feel like a small piece of magic: being in the same place at the same moment, close enough to appreciate their beauty with our own eyes.