Can Deer Fawns Have 2 Fathers?
The cutest animals on Earth have started dropping, and in celebration we’ll be posting fun and informative fawn facts over the next few weeks. Question from Dave in Alabama: Mike, I’ve heard that whitetail fawns can have more than one buck as a daddy, is that right? In the case of twins and triplets, a definite yes. A Texas A&M-Kingsville study found that 16 of 23 sets of twins had 2 different sires, typically one mature buck and another buck 2½ years or younger. Researchers suggest the younger bucks are opportunistic little devils, sneaking in to breed the doe just before or after the mature buck does. And get this: Scientists at Auburn University reported 3 different buck sires for [...]