Some Longevity Records for Female White-Tailed Deer in Northern Michigan

Abstract

Longevity records are presented for 14 ear-tagged wild female white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) known to be from 9 to nearly 1S years of age at the time of their final handling. Two were taken by hunters, 12 were recovered when they returned to the winter deeryard. Table 1. Longevity records for female white-tailed deer in northern Michigan. Age Date Age Date Method and Fate Juv. 3-10-55 14 yr. 9 mo. 3-12-69 Capture-gun and released Adult 2-22-35 14 yr. 7 mo. 1-15-48 Live-trapped and released Juv. 1-29-54 13 yr. 7 mo. 11-67 Highway kill Adult 36-56 12 yr. 11 mo. 56-67 Found dead Juv. 2-25-55 12 yr. 8 mo. 1-27-67 Snared and released Adult 25-52 12 yr. 8 mo. 21-63 Live-trapped and released Juv. 2-28-41 11 yr. 8 mo. 2-13-52 Live-trapped and released Adult 22-55 11 yr. 6 mo. 11-27-64 Hunting season kill Juv. 1-23-42 10 yr. 10 mo. 43-52 Live-trapped (died in captivity4-12-53) Juv. 28-51 10 yr. 9 mo. 3-10-61 Live-trapped and released Adult 1-27-54 10 yr. 8 mo. 2-20-63 Live-trapped and released Adult 3-16-60 9 yr. 9 mo. 37-68 Snared and released Juv. 2-17-52 9 yr. 8 mo. 2-21-61 Live-trapped and released Juv. 2-27-51 9 yr. 5 mo. 11-16-59 Hunting season kill 1027 Records of extreme longevity in whitetailed deer generally concern captive or semi-wild females that have received special care and/or feeding. Popov (1950), Palmer ( 1951), Severinghaus and Cheatum ( 1956 ), and Verme ( 1962 ) report instances of such animals living 12 to 20 years. However, longevity records for wild deer continually facing natural hazards are scarce. Since 1935, nearly 2,000 deer have been live-trapped, ear-tagged, and released at the Cusino Wildlife Research Station in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Subsequent recovery of some of these animals provides evidence of the maximum life span of wild females of the species. Data for all deer 1 A contribution from Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Project W-117-R, Michigan. known to be more than 9 years old when last examined are shown in Table 1. Animals judged to be adults at their initial handling were arbitrarily assigned the age of 1 year as of the previous spring. Their designated age at recovery is therefore minimal. Although juvenile males were livetrapped in about the same proportion as juvenile females, the oldest known-age male in our records is 8 years and 5 months old. Only 2 of 14 does listed were eventually taken by hunters, despite antlerless deer hunting seasons in this area for the past 12 years. All other does were recovered when they returned to the winter deeryard. Thus, it seems that the most important mortality factor for these aged animals is their survival during the critical winter period, rather than their escape from hunters. INITIAL CAPTURE RECOVERY This content downloaded from 157.55.39.243 on Wed, 05 Oct 2016 04:05:56 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms BROWSE QUALITY INFLUENCED BY TREE OVERSTORY IN THE SOUTH LOWELL K. HALLS, Wildlife Habitat and Silviculture Laboratory, Southern Forest Experiment Station, USDA Forest Service,