Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

White-Tailed Deer Activity, Contraception, And Estrous Cycling, Stephen A. Schumake, Gary Killian

Great Plains Wildlife Damage Control Workshop Proceedings

Reliable activity measures in free-ranging white-tailed deer could be useful for the assessment of estrous cycling and general activity changes that can occur after immunocontraceptive vaccine treatments. Electronic data-logging (Countcard^TM) devices attached to 9 white-tailed doe deer on neck collars were used to monitor their movement activities during 2 rutting seasons in 2.5 acre fenced enclosures. Direct daily behavioral observations on buck responses toward individual does were used to detect estrus and to validate changes in 24-hour activity counts as another indication of estrous cycling. When individual activity counts for the estrus days on the does were compared …