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USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

White-tailed Deer

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Full-Text Articles in Biodiversity

White-Tailed Deer (Odocoileus Virginianus) Fawn Risk From Gray Wolf (Canis Lupus) Predation During Summer, L. David Mech, Aaron Morris, Shannon M. Barber-Meyer Jan 2015

White-Tailed Deer (Odocoileus Virginianus) Fawn Risk From Gray Wolf (Canis Lupus) Predation During Summer, L. David Mech, Aaron Morris, Shannon M. Barber-Meyer

USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

Little is known about how often various prey animals are at risk of predation by Gray Wolves (Canis lupus). We used a system to monitor the presence during the day of two radio-collared Gray Wolves within 2 km of a radio-collared White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) with a fawn or fawns in August 2013 in the Superior National Forest of northeastern Minnesota. We concluded that the fawn or fawns were at risk of predation by at least one wolf at least daily.


Wolves, Canis Lupus, Carry And Cache The Collars Of Radio-Collared White-Tailed Deer, Odocoileus Virginianus, They Killed, Michael E. Nelson, L. David Mech Jan 2011

Wolves, Canis Lupus, Carry And Cache The Collars Of Radio-Collared White-Tailed Deer, Odocoileus Virginianus, They Killed, Michael E. Nelson, L. David Mech

USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

Wolves (Canis lupus) in northeastern Minnesota cached six radio-collars (four in winter, two in spring-summer) of 202 radio-collared White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) they killed or consumed from 1975 to 2010. A Wolf bedded on top of one collar cached in snow. We found one collar each at a Wolf den and Wolf rendezvous site, 2.5 km and 0.5 km respectively, from each deer’s previous locations.


Wolf, Canis Lupus, Visits To White-Tailed Deer, Odocoileus Virginianus, Summer Ranges: Optimal Foraging?, Dominic J. Demma, L. David Mech Jan 2009

Wolf, Canis Lupus, Visits To White-Tailed Deer, Odocoileus Virginianus, Summer Ranges: Optimal Foraging?, Dominic J. Demma, L. David Mech

USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

We tested whether Wolf (Canis lupus) visits to individual female White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) summer ranges during 2003 and 2004 in northeastern Minnesota were in accord with optimal-foraging theory. Using GPS collars with 10- to 30-minute location attempts on four Wolves and five female deer, plus eleven VHF-collared female deer in the Wolves’ territory, provided new insights into the frequency of Wolf visits to summer ranges of female deer. Wolves made a mean 0.055 visits/day to summer ranges of deer three years and older, significantly more than their 0.032 mean visits/day to ranges of two-year-old deer, …


Precision Of Descriptors For Percent Marrow Fat Content For Whitetailed Deer, Odocoileus Viriginianus, L. David Mech Jan 2008

Precision Of Descriptors For Percent Marrow Fat Content For Whitetailed Deer, Odocoileus Viriginianus, L. David Mech

USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

Based on 168 records of both verbal descriptors of White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) femur-marrow fat and percentage of fat measured later, “gelatinous” served well to distinguish fat < 46% from higher percentages. “Waxy” distinguished fat > 56%.


Record High Wolf, Canis Lupus, Pack Density, L. David Mech, Shawn Tracy Jan 2004

Record High Wolf, Canis Lupus, Pack Density, L. David Mech, Shawn Tracy

USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

This report documents a year-around Wolf (Canis lupus) density of 18.2/100 km2 and a summer density of 30.8/100 km2, in a northeastern Minnesota Wolf pack. The previous record was a summer density of 14.1/100 km2, for a Wolf pack on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada.


Proximity Of White-Tailed Deer, Odocoileus Virginianus, Ranges To Wolf, Canis Lupus, Pack Homesites, Michael E. Nelson, L. David Mech Jan 2000

Proximity Of White-Tailed Deer, Odocoileus Virginianus, Ranges To Wolf, Canis Lupus, Pack Homesites, Michael E. Nelson, L. David Mech

USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

Seven adult female White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) in northeastern Minnesota lived within 1.8 km of Wolf pack (Canis lupus) homesites without vacating their home ranges. Six of these deer and at least three of their fawns survived through the Wolf homesite period.


A Record Large Wolf, Canis Lupus, Pack In Minnesota, L. David Mech Jan 2000

A Record Large Wolf, Canis Lupus, Pack In Minnesota, L. David Mech

USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

This report documents a pack of 22-23 Wolves (Canis lupus) in central Minnesota. This is larger than the largest pack previously observed on the mainland in the midwestern U.s. during 650 wolf pack-years. Because this record-large pack preyed on White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus), one of the Wolfs smaller prey, it is evidence that pack size and prey size are not tightly related. It also indicates the size that Wolf packs can attain in the area if fully protected from human persecution.