The "Toy" Deer of the Florida Keys
By Anne Baxter

Key Deer, Odocoilus virgianus clavium, are descended from an ancestor of the modern white tail deer which inhabit mainland Florida. During the Pleistocene Era, when glaciers had formed, the Keys were part of mainland Florida and the deer roamed all over the land. When the weather warmed up and the glaciers melted, the Keys were formed and many deer were stranded. These deer developed into the smaller Key Deer we see today. They differ from white tail deer in many ways: the Key Deer legs are shorter in proportion ot their bodies; the Key Deer skull is wider and less elongated; Key Deer horns and teeth differ; the Key Deer height is smaller (25 to 30 inches at the withers); their weight is less (63 to 80 pounds) and their coats vary in color among individuals.

Scientists have a name for the type of evolution just described. It is known as Allen’s Law. As a species moves nearer the equator, the increased heat, and other effects of tropical climate favor individuals which are smaller in size. Only the smallest would survive to reproduce their own kind. This is a form of natural selection, which might have occurred in the case of the Key Deer. Diet and lack of freshwater might have also prevented their growing as large as the mainland white tail deer.

During times of drought, Key Deer will swim to an island that has water. They now inhabit Big Pine Key and at least sixteen other keys in the area: Little Pine, How, Water, Annette, The Knockemdown Keys, The Johnson Keys, No Name, Sugarloaf, Cudjoe, Middle Torch and several others. Natural water holes are found on Big Pine, Little Pine, both Johnson Keys, No Name, Sugarloaf, Cudjoe, and Middle Torch Keys. Artificial water holes are found on Water, Howe, Annette, Little Pine, and the larger Johnson Keys. The Rangers have enlarged water holds that would either catch and hold rainwater or would fill up with ground water from the freshwater lens. This has been done on the larger Johnson Key and on Water Key. During times of extreme drought, the deer can drink slightly brackish water.

Due to intense hunting, habitat destruction and other reasons, Key Deer nearly disappeared off the face of the earth. In 1949 only thirty Key Deer survived. In 1954 the Key Deer Refuge was founded for their protection. Now there are estimated to be about four hundred deer and the population is still growing.

Yet, with all this protection, many deer are still lost. Because of the deer’s attraction to people and the highways where they come for handouts, 48 were killed by automobiles in 1981. Two of these were does who carried unborn twins. Now the feeding of Key Deer is a second degree misdemeanor punishable by a maximum fine of $500 and/or 60 days in jail. This law was passed for the protection of the deer and for their preservation as a species.