Deer on the lookout: how hunting, hiking and coyotes affect white‐tailed deer vigilance
Abstract Predators affect prey directly by removing animals from the population and indirectly by modifying prey behavior. Humans have extirpated apex predators from many ecosystems, and the extent to which smaller predators, or humans themselves, can ecologically replace apex predators remains unce...
Published in: | Journal of Zoology |
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Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jzo.12416 https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fjzo.12416 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/jzo.12416 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1111/jzo.12416 https://zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/am-pdf/10.1111/jzo.12416 https://zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/jzo.12416 |
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crwiley:10.1111/jzo.12416 2024-09-15T18:01:25+00:00 Deer on the lookout: how hunting, hiking and coyotes affect white‐tailed deer vigilance Schuttler, S. G. Parsons, A. W. Forrester, T. D. Baker, M. C. McShea, W. J. Costello, R. Kays, R. National Science Foundation U.S. Forest Service Smithsonian Institution 2016 http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jzo.12416 https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fjzo.12416 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/jzo.12416 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1111/jzo.12416 https://zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/am-pdf/10.1111/jzo.12416 https://zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/jzo.12416 en eng Wiley http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#am http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor Journal of Zoology volume 301, issue 4, page 320-327 ISSN 0952-8369 1469-7998 journal-article 2016 crwiley https://doi.org/10.1111/jzo.12416 2024-08-22T04:17:20Z Abstract Predators affect prey directly by removing animals from the population and indirectly by modifying prey behavior. Humans have extirpated apex predators from many ecosystems, and the extent to which smaller predators, or humans themselves, can ecologically replace apex predators remains uncertain. White‐tailed deer Odocoileus virginianus in the Eastern United States were released from their two most important predators a century ago following the extirpation of cougars Puma concolor and wolves Canis lupus . We studied the extent to which perceived predation risk from humans and a newly arrived mesopredator, the coyote, Canis latrans affects deer behavior, predicting that deer will be most vigilant in areas hunted by humans which also have the highest levels of coyote activity. We quantified deer vigilance rates in 33 natural areas of which 15 allowed hunting, across six states by evaluating the head posture of 3470 deer photographed at unbaited camera traps. We documented wide variation in coyote activity (0–2.5 detections/day) and human activity (0–306 detections/day), but contrary to our predictions, did not find strong positive relationships between deer vigilance and either of these predators. Deer vigilance was lower in areas with high levels of human recreation, suggesting that deer become habituated to the presence of humans. Vigilance increased across the fall season in both hunted and non‐hunted populations, which suggests that increased vigilance may be associated more with mating behavior or environmental factors other than hunting. Our results show that variation in coyote and human activity does not significantly impact the vigilance behavior of white‐tailed deer year‐round, suggesting that deer rely on other risk‐avoidance behaviors or neither are functioning as apex predators in the region. Article in Journal/Newspaper Canis lupus Wiley Online Library Journal of Zoology 301 4 320 327 |
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Open Polar |
collection |
Wiley Online Library |
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crwiley |
language |
English |
description |
Abstract Predators affect prey directly by removing animals from the population and indirectly by modifying prey behavior. Humans have extirpated apex predators from many ecosystems, and the extent to which smaller predators, or humans themselves, can ecologically replace apex predators remains uncertain. White‐tailed deer Odocoileus virginianus in the Eastern United States were released from their two most important predators a century ago following the extirpation of cougars Puma concolor and wolves Canis lupus . We studied the extent to which perceived predation risk from humans and a newly arrived mesopredator, the coyote, Canis latrans affects deer behavior, predicting that deer will be most vigilant in areas hunted by humans which also have the highest levels of coyote activity. We quantified deer vigilance rates in 33 natural areas of which 15 allowed hunting, across six states by evaluating the head posture of 3470 deer photographed at unbaited camera traps. We documented wide variation in coyote activity (0–2.5 detections/day) and human activity (0–306 detections/day), but contrary to our predictions, did not find strong positive relationships between deer vigilance and either of these predators. Deer vigilance was lower in areas with high levels of human recreation, suggesting that deer become habituated to the presence of humans. Vigilance increased across the fall season in both hunted and non‐hunted populations, which suggests that increased vigilance may be associated more with mating behavior or environmental factors other than hunting. Our results show that variation in coyote and human activity does not significantly impact the vigilance behavior of white‐tailed deer year‐round, suggesting that deer rely on other risk‐avoidance behaviors or neither are functioning as apex predators in the region. |
author2 |
National Science Foundation U.S. Forest Service Smithsonian Institution |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Schuttler, S. G. Parsons, A. W. Forrester, T. D. Baker, M. C. McShea, W. J. Costello, R. Kays, R. |
spellingShingle |
Schuttler, S. G. Parsons, A. W. Forrester, T. D. Baker, M. C. McShea, W. J. Costello, R. Kays, R. Deer on the lookout: how hunting, hiking and coyotes affect white‐tailed deer vigilance |
author_facet |
Schuttler, S. G. Parsons, A. W. Forrester, T. D. Baker, M. C. McShea, W. J. Costello, R. Kays, R. |
author_sort |
Schuttler, S. G. |
title |
Deer on the lookout: how hunting, hiking and coyotes affect white‐tailed deer vigilance |
title_short |
Deer on the lookout: how hunting, hiking and coyotes affect white‐tailed deer vigilance |
title_full |
Deer on the lookout: how hunting, hiking and coyotes affect white‐tailed deer vigilance |
title_fullStr |
Deer on the lookout: how hunting, hiking and coyotes affect white‐tailed deer vigilance |
title_full_unstemmed |
Deer on the lookout: how hunting, hiking and coyotes affect white‐tailed deer vigilance |
title_sort |
deer on the lookout: how hunting, hiking and coyotes affect white‐tailed deer vigilance |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2016 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jzo.12416 https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fjzo.12416 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/jzo.12416 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1111/jzo.12416 https://zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/am-pdf/10.1111/jzo.12416 https://zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/jzo.12416 |
genre |
Canis lupus |
genre_facet |
Canis lupus |
op_source |
Journal of Zoology volume 301, issue 4, page 320-327 ISSN 0952-8369 1469-7998 |
op_rights |
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#am http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1111/jzo.12416 |
container_title |
Journal of Zoology |
container_volume |
301 |
container_issue |
4 |
container_start_page |
320 |
op_container_end_page |
327 |
_version_ |
1810438570361487360 |