Dead Deer Research Articles

Effectiveness of a Lighted, Animated Deer Crossing Sign

Two lighted, animated deer crossing signs were installed adjacent to State Highway 82 south of Glenwood Springs, Colorado, delineating a 1.61 km (1-mile) segment of highway where deer-vehicle accidents frequently occurred. The signs were turned on and off for alternate weekly periods of 1972 and 1973 during the times when most deer-auto accidents were expected to occur. Numbers of deer crossing the highway were estimated and all deer-vehicle accidents were documented. The number of crossings per deer killed on the highway was 56.9:1 and 56.5:1 with the signs on and with the signs off, respectively. There was no difference in the ratios (P > 0.50). Mean vehicle speeds were lower (P 0.50) when dead deer were on the highway whether the signs were on or off. Apparently motorists did see the sign, but their response in the form of speed reduction and/or increased awareness was not sufficient to affect the crossings per kill ratio.

Mortality in deer

SUMMARYMortality in deer can occur from various causes predominantly associated directly or indirectly with man. Deliberate culling by shooting is of course the principal cause but a considerable number of deer are killed by illegal activities of poachers in various parts of the country. At present high prices for venison and low fines imposed by the Courts encourage their activities. Mechanical injuries from car accidents and fencing wire are common factors and the weather, particularly in the North of Scotland, can take a heavy toll especially of the old and the very young.Disease per se is probably of little significance in well‐managed populations. An excellent host‐parasite relationship seems to exist in many instances, but liver fluke and lungworm are important causes of death particularly in Roe in certain areas. Deer are, on the whole, remarkably free from clinical diseases compared with domesticated stock but with the advent of ‘deer farming’, certain infections such as Tuberculosis and Brucellosis are worthy of further study. Deaths from poisoning rarely occur although certain plants such as laurel can be toxic to Fallow deer; yew appears to be eaten with impunity.Percentage mortality in the different species is virtually impossible to ascertain at present, as the numbers of deer are not known in most areas. Moreover, dead deer are rarely found; so far the only accurate figures available have been obtained from deer parks. It would probably be true to say that the vast majority of free‐living deer in Britain rarely live out their allotted span of life as judged by the age to which deer can survive in certain parks in the absence of the usual causes of mortality in the wild.

Epizootic of Hemorrhagic Disease in North Dakota Deer

Extensive mortality was observed among white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), but not mule deer (0. hemionus), in south-western North Dakota during the autumns of 1970 and 1971. It was estimated that at least 2,000 white-tailed deer died during the outbreak. The virus of epizootic hemorrhagic disease (EHD) of deer was isolated from a dead white-tailed deer and considered to be the etiologic agent responsible for the outbreak. Neutralizing antibodies to EHD were detected only in mule and white-tailed deer from the outbreak area. While a significantly higher percentage (P 0.05) of mule deer possessed EHD neutralizing antibodies, there were no differences by age or sex of the deer. The outbreak is discussed in relation to the known epizootiology of EHD. J. WILDL. MANAGE. 37(3):331-335 Beginning in late July or early August of 1970 and lasting until the first week of November, an epizootic of a hemorrhagic disease ravaged white-tailed deer herds in western North Dakota. Geographically, the epizootic area involved included the Little Missouri River drainage and the headwaters of streams to the east of it as well as parts of the lower Yellowstone River that border or are in North Dakota. Within this area, 195 deer carcasses were discovered and it is estimated that this represents not more than 10 percent of the deer which succumbed. Additionally, one sick mule deer and a few sick or dead pronghorn antelope (Antilocapra americana) were also found. The virus of infectious bovine rhinotracheitis (IBR) was isolated from an antelope but not from any of the deer (Richards 1972). During the summer of 1971 additional mortality was experienced within the epizootic area, but of a magnitude that was far less than during the 1970 epizootic. Most of these 1971 losses occurred in individual herds that had probably not been involved in 1970. The 1970 and 1971 die-offs occurred in the same area of North Dakota which experi nced extensive deer and antelope losses in 1962 (Fig. 1) (Richards 1963, 1964). The virus of epizootic hemorrhagic disease was considered to be the etiologic agent responsible for the 1962 epizootic. Tissue and serum samples collected from recently dead deer were submitted to the Department of Veterinary Science at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, for virus isolation studies. Also serum samples collected from hunter killed deer in 1970 and 1971 were tested for neutralizing antibodies to EHD virus and the closely related bluetongue virus (BT). This report concerns the results of these studies. MATERIALS AND METHODS Tissue and serum samples collected from four white-tailed deer found dead of hemorrhagic disease were submitted for virus isolation attempts. First, an attempt was made to reproduce the disease in a 5-month old male white-tailed deer. The liver, lung, and spleen collected from a yearling buck in Billings County within 1 hour after death were inoculated intravenously into the ex1 Research funded by Project W-67-R, Federal Aid to Wildlife Restoration Program. 2 Present address: Veterinary Public Health Section, Florida Division of Health, P.O. Box 210, Jacksonville, 32201. 3 Present address: Dean, College of Natural Resources, University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point, 54481. J. Wildl. Manage. 37 (3):1973 331 This content downloaded from 207.46.13.126 on Sat, 24 Sep 2016 04:50:42 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms 332 HEMORRHAGIC DISEASE IN DEER * Hoff et al. 1 2 3 4 6 7 a 13 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 is 19 21 22 3 24 2 2 b V A 29 3D 3 1 32 CAMT.1)II I 1 LlIn I w ln Ia ? ~ In Il r NES I 1 III L?lr II )1 L?r I I) ?L ll ? ) CWAN 31 .1-L n ?I L C1 ?I ???I 1I 111 1? 1 A 111 I . n L ~ LI l ?? ? I? U ~ I -1 11 CY LIl In~??n r ~ II In ?~I rl Irr u ?A

Deer Ked Infestation on White-Tailed Deer in East Texas

Deer Ked Infestation on White-Tailed Deer in East Texas

THE GOLDEN EAGLE IN RELATION TO ITS FOOD SUPPLY

SummaryThe population of Golden Eagles was assessed in four different areas of the Scottish Highlands. The average area per pair varied from 11,400 to 17,884 acres, excluding country that was not used by the eagles.Eagle food in these areas consists largely of Red Grouse, Ptarmigan, Mountain Hares and Rabbits, and also dead Red Deer and dead sheep.The numbers and biomass of the four main species of living prey were assessed by representative counts in three main types of habitat; and of dead deer and sheep partly from counts but mainly from published data on stocking densities, mortality and weights.The annual food requirement from a home range was estimated at 249 kg. of meat, calculated from data on the food consumption of eagles, allowing for known breeding success and for the presence of some immature eagles and unmated adults; and this was compared with the total food potential in the four Study Areas, allowance being made for the inedible portions of carcases.The average food potential in all areas is greatly in excess of the requirements. In the three western areas living prey is very scarce, but amounts of carrion are large and the eagles in these areas depend mainly on carrion. Large differences in food potential between areas do not correspond with differences in eagle density. Two examples are cited where a drastic reduction in food supply had no effect on eagle density, which remains remarkably constant in spite of seasonal and annual fluctuations in food supply.Golden Eagle nest‐sites are used over many years, and the home ranges are big enough to supply a more than adequate food supply at all times of year. Evidence is provided of territorial or home‐range defence, which generally takes the form of display flights but occasionally involves more overt aggression. The home‐range size is fixed so high that a critical food level is probably very rarely reached.

Further Analysis of Methods for Censusing Winter-Lost Deer

Results of a study testing five methods for censusing dead deer were presented by Robinette et al. (1954). The tests were made on restricted units of Utah winter deer range on which there were known numbers of dead deer or randomly placed burlap sacks simulating dead deer. It was concluded that Hayne's (1949) modification of King's grouse census method and Webb's (1942) snowshoe hare census method were not adapted to censusing inanimate objects. King's grouse census method, the Lincoln Index (Lincoln, 1930), and Kelker's (1945) belt transect method gave acceptable results when certain precautions were taken to eliminate bias.

Report of the Investigation of the Dead Deer at the Ruby State Game Reserve at Ruby, Wash

Report of the Investigation of the Dead Deer at the Ruby State Game Reserve at Ruby, Wash

Mountain Laurel and Rhododendron as Foods for the White Tailed Deer

The forests of Pennsylvania support an enormous herd of deer, which constitute a charming feature of the out-of-door life of the state, and also furnish sport for an army of hunters. These deer, however, have become so numerous that they cause serious damage to field crops and orchards; and, since they mingle freely with cattle and sheep, and are capable of carrying the diseases of these animals, they constitute a definite menace to the livestock industry of the state. So numerous, in fact, have the deer become in certain regions that the forest has been cleared of every edible leaf and twig to a height as great as the deer can reach, thus forming a clear-cut deer line in the vegetation; and large nurvibers of deer have died in these overstocked forests in the early spring during several recent years. This situation is a matter for concern not only in relation to the well-being of the deer of the state, but also as it affects the sanitation of watersheds. The Pennsylvania State Board of Game Commissioners, therefore, felt a need for full information as to the cause of the death of these deer, for its own guidance in the administration of the game law, and for the information of the people of the state, especially in order that hunters may be able intelligently to support the law. Accordingly the Board of Gam-ie Commissioners requested the Pennsylvania State College to determine, if possible, the cause of the death of the deer in the forests during the early spring, and especially to determine whether mountain laurel (Kahimia latifolia) and rhododendron (Rhodoenldron mza-iMlu711) are poisonous to deer. The stomachs of the dead deer are very commonly found to contain the leaves of laurel and rhododendron in quantity, and these plants have been known to be poisonous to cattle, sheep, and human beings for many hundreds of years, at least since the days of Xenophon and Pliny, both of whom knew of their poisonous character.1 Inquiry among those who are in best position to know about the matter failed to bring to light information directing especial suspicion toward any other plant as the cause of the death of the deer. This phase of the problem, therefore, involved only the consideration of these two plants.