Activity patterns and temporal predator avoidance of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) during the fawning season

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dc.contributor.authorHigdon, Summer D.en
dc.contributor.authorDiggins, Corinne A.en
dc.contributor.authorCherry, Michael J.en
dc.contributor.authorFord, W. Marken
dc.contributor.departmentFish and Wildlife Conservationen
dc.date.accessioned2020-06-12T17:46:09Zen
dc.date.available2020-06-12T17:46:09Zen
dc.date.issued2019-09en
dc.description.abstractIn the presence of a predator, prey may alter their temporal activity patterns to reduce the risk of an encounter that may induce injury or death. Prey perception of predation risk and antipredator responses may increase in the presence of dependent offspring. We conducted a camera trap study during summer 2015 in North Carolina and Tennessee, USA to evaluate temporal avoidance of a predator (coyote Canis latrans) by white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus). We analyzed activity patterns of bucks, does, and nursery groups (i.e., groups that included fawns) relative to those of coyotes to determine the coefficient of overlap (Delta) using a kernel density estimator. We found that bucks and does had similar Delta with coyotes [Delta(1) = 0.729 (0.629-0.890) and Delta(1) = 0.686 (0.558-0.816, respectively] and exhibited crepuscular activity patterns comparable to those of coyotes. However, nursery groups displayed a dramatically different activity pattern: unimodal activity was concentrated in the middle of the day with little overlap with coyote activity [Delta(1) = 0.362 (0.176-0.491)]. Because adult deer are rarely prey for coyotes, whereas fawns are common prey during summer, the shift in activity patterns of nursery groups demonstrates a behavioral shift likely aimed at avoiding coyote predation on fawns.en
dc.description.adminPublic domain – authored by a U.S. government employeeen
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen
dc.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.1007/s10164-019-00599-1en
dc.identifier.eissn1439-5444en
dc.identifier.issn0289-0771en
dc.identifier.issue3en
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10919/98837en
dc.identifier.volume37en
dc.language.isoenen
dc.rightsCreative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedicationen
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/en
dc.subjectCamera trapsen
dc.subjectCanis latransen
dc.subjectLandscape of fearen
dc.subjectReproductive conditionen
dc.subjectRisky time hypothesisen
dc.subjectPrey-predator interactionen
dc.titleActivity patterns and temporal predator avoidance of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) during the fawning seasonen
dc.title.serialJournal of Ethologyen
dc.typeArticle - Refereeden
dc.type.dcmitypeTexten
dc.type.dcmitypeStillImageen

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