Gerald W. Garner

Midsummer daytime bedsites of white-tailed deer (Odocileus virginianus texanus) fawns in southwestern Oklahoma were analyzed to determine the species composition of the surrounding vegetation. Vegetative composition varied between bedsites and range sites, but fawns did not bed in areas dominated by short vegetation. Fawns used 5 different range sites for daytime bedsites. Bedsites located on the 2 savannah range sites had higher percentages of woody vegetation than did bedsites located in the 3 open range sites. Grasses and grass-likes were the most abundant plant forms around all...

Eighty-three white-tailed deer fawns (Odocoileus virginianus texanus) were captured in the Wichita Mountains of southwestern Oklahoma between 1974 and 1977. General physical appearance was documented and 10 body measurements were taken from each fawn. The calculated age of captured fawns ranged from I to 21 days. Three measurements (total weight, total body length, and hind foot length) appeared to be those most descriptive of skeletal and body mass changes with increasing age. Regression models indicated that males were larger and grew faster than females. The rates ofweight gain for male...

Average home range size for 10 desert mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus crookii) was 384.1 ha. The average home range size for 5 bucks (493.4 ha) was I.7 times larger than that of 5 does (283.7 ha). Home range sizes increased with age and were largest among deer 5 to 7 years old. Deer 7.5 to 8+ years old had somewhat smaller home ranges than animals 5.5 years old. Seasonal migration or seasonal shifts in home ranges were not apparent; however, vegetative type preferences within home ranges did vary according to season. During the winter months deer preferred the skeletonleaf goldeneye (...

Average diurnal range sizes for 10 white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) fawns indicate an increase from 3.3 ha at 1 week of age to 52.0 ha at 12 weeks of age. Distance between successive die! locations increased with age, but total daytime movements did not increase with age, therefore increasing diurnal range size appears to result from increasing nocturnal movements as fawns grow older. Partial cause for large diurnal ranges of fawns in the Wichita Mountains is believed to be the open prairie habitat, but other ecological and behavioral factors may also influence diurnal range size...

Thirty-five white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) fawns 1 to 28 days of age were captured in 1974 and 1975. Survival and causes of mortality were determined by radio telemetry. Average annual mortality was 87.9 percent, based on a 63 percent mortality rate in 1974 and a 96 percent mortality rate in 1975. Predation by coyotes (Canis latrans) and bobcats (Lynx rufus) was involved in 96.6 percent of the observed mortality. Salmonellosis was detected in three 1975 fawns at capture but clinical symptoms of the disease were not noted during the study. Coyote and bobcat predation combined to...