2007 “The Overlook at Big Pine Key” was certified by the National Wildlife Federation as an official Backyard Wildlife Habitat. We met all of the criteria by providing food, water, shelter and  places to raise young.

Key Deer

his deer can be recognized by its characteristic size, smaller than all other White-tailed deer. Adult males (known as bucks) usually weigh 25–34 kilograms (55–75 lb) and stand about 76 centimetres (30 in) tall at the shoulder. Adult females (does) usually weigh between 20–29 kilograms (44–64 lb) and have an average height of 66 centimetres (26 in) at the shoulders. The deer is a reddish-brown to grey-brown in color. Antlers are grown by males and shed between February and March and regrown by June. When the antlers are growing, they have a white velvet coating. The species otherwise generally resembles other white-tailed deer in appearance.

Key Deer easily swim between islands.

Living close to humans, the Key Deer has little of the natural fear of man shown by most of their larger mainland cousins. The deer are often found in residents’ yards and along roadsides where tasty plants and flowers grow. This often results in car-to-deer collisions, as the deer are more active (and harder to avoid) at night. It is not unusual to see them at dusk and dawn, especially on lightly inhabited No Name Key, and in the less-populated northern areas of Big Pine Key. Some are so tame that they will accept food directly from humans, but feeding deer is prohibited by law.

The range of the Key Deer originally encompassed all of the lower Florida Keys (where standing water pools exist), but is now limited to a stretch of the Florida Keys from about Sugarloaf Key to Bahia Honda Key.

The islands of Big Pine, Cudjoe, West Summerland, Big Torch, Howe, Little Pine, Little Torch, Middle Torch, No Name, and Sugarloaf are the only places where the deer permanently reside. The deer also can be found on the islands of Annette, Big Munson, Little Munson, Johnson, Knockemdown, Mayo, Porpoise, Ramrod, Toptree Hammock, Wahoo, Water Key (east) and Water Keys (west), but they are only present there in the dry season when there is a shortage of a fresh water.

Key Deer use all islands during the wet season when drinking water is more generally available, retreating to islands with a perennial supply of fresh water in dry months.

 

Key Deer inhabit nearly all habitats within their range, including pine rocklands, hardwood hammocks, mangroves, and freshwater wetlands. The species feed on over 150 types of plants, but mangroves (red, white, and black) and thatch palm berries make up the most important part of their diet. Pine rockland habitat is important as well because it is often the only reliable source of fresh drinking water (Key Deer can tolerate drinking only mildly brackish water). Habitat destruction due to human encroachment cause many deer to feed on non-native ornamental plants.

It is believed that the Key Deer is a subspecies of White-tailed deer which migrated to the Florida Keys from the mainland over aland bridge during the Wisconsin glaciation. The earliest known written reference to Key Deer comes from the writings of Hernando de Escalante Fontaneda, a Spanish sailor shipwrecked in the Florida Keys and captured by Native Americans in the 1550s.

Recent population estimates put the population between 300 and 800, putting it on the list of endangered species. Road kills from drivers on U.S. 1, which traverses the deer’s small range, are also a major threat, averaging between 30 and 40 kills per year, 70% of the annual mortality.

Conservation efforts include the establishment of the National Key Deer Refuge, which consists of approximately 8,500 acres (34 km²) on Big Pine, No Name Key and several smaller uninhabited islands. Biologists have recently begun relocating some Key Deer from Big Pine Key to other islands, since Big Pine Key’s population has reached its sustainable limit.