Abstract: The objective of the study was to examine potential interactions between a common aboveground herbivore, the white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), and earthworm populations. White-tailed deer fecal matter, which provides high quality organic matter for consumption could possibly be beneficial to earthworms. Little is known about native earthworms in the Southeastern United States; therefore, we were particularly interested in the effects of deer on native earthworms. The experiment consisted of two main components. First, we set up 18 field plots (exclosure, control, high deer fecal density plots ); deer exclosures were put in place in 2006. Octet electroshocking was used to evaluate the densities and total mass of earthworm populations relative to deer fecal pellet densities. Principle component analyses of plot soil samples were taken determine if deer  had an impact on soil properties. Second, we observed the influence of deer fecal pellets on earthworm growth rates through a laboratory experiment. We determined the growth rate of a native (Eisenoides carolinensis) and the invasive (Lumbricus terrestris) earthworm species among three food treatments: oak leaves, deer fecal pellets, or oak leaves and deer fecal pellets.  We found that deer treatments had no effect on measured soil characteristics. However, deer were found to negatively influence large juvenile E. carolinensis in mass and number. Adults and unidentifiable earthworms exhibited no statistical difference among deer treatments. With our growth experiment we found a positive proportional change in mass for E. carolinensis and a negative proportional change in mass for L. terrestris among all treatments. Both species fared better (gained more mass for E. carolinensis and lost less mass for L. terrestris)for deer pellet and deer pellet with leaf litter treatments in relation to the treatment with leaf litter alone. The field and laboratory portions of our study appeared to give contradictory results: in the field, earthworm densities were negatively related to deer fecal pellet counts, but native earthworms gained more mass in the presence of fecal pellets (compared with leaf litter) in the laboratory. However, we suspect that these differences are related to indirect of effects of deer on the understory herb layer and data is currently being collected to examine this possibility.