Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy that was first detected in 1967 in a captive research facility in Colorado. In the northeastern United States, CWD was first confirmed in white‐tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) in 2005. Because CWD is a new and emerging disease with a spatial distribution that had yet to be assessed in the Northeast, we examined demographic, environmental, and spatial effects to determine how each related to this spatial distribution. The objectives of our study were to identify environmental and spatial effects that best described the spatial distribution of CWD in free‐ranging white‐tailed deer and identify areas that support deer that are at risk for CWD infection in the Northeast. We used Bayesian hierarchical modeling that incorporated demographic covariates, such as sex and age, along with environmental covariates, which included elevation, slope, riparian corridor, percent clay, and 3 landscapes (i.e., developed, forested, open). The model with the most support contained landscape covariates and spatial effects that represented clustering of CWD in adjacent grid cells. Forested landscapes had the strongest relationship with the distribution of CWD, with increased risk of CWD occurring in areas that had lesser amounts of forest. Our results will assist resource managers in understanding the spatial distribution of CWD within the study area, and in surrounding areas where CWD has yet to be found. Efficiency of disease surveillance and containment efforts can be improved by allocating resources used for surveillance in areas with deer populations that are at greatest risk for infection. © 2015 The Wildlife Society.
White‐tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) thrive in fragmented exurban habitats, resulting in increased occurrences of deer‐human conflicts. To develop successful management regimes managers must understand exurban deer ecology, an area deficient in current literature. We investigated exurban white‐tailed deer spatial ecology on Fair Hill Natural Resource Management Area in Cecil County, Maryland, USA. From June 2004 to January 2006, we collected 37,384 telemetry locations and 1,194 visual observations on 66 radiocollared female white‐tailed deer to investigate seasonal home range sizes, home range fidelity, and hourly movement rates. Annual adaptive‐kernel home range size ranged from 8.1 ha to 21.7 ha and 70.9 ha to 144.5 ha among seasons (early, middle, and late‐hunting, posthunting, and fawning) at the 50% and 95% utilization distributions, respectively. Seasonal home range size generally increased from the fawning through posthunting seasons. Seasonal home range overlap differed at 50% and 95% utilization distributions, with the least overlap occurring between the posthunting and fawning seasons (50%: x̄ = 19.4%, 95%: x̄ = 33.3%). Circadian activity varied among seasons with dusk movement rates greatest in all seasons. Our results suggest that this exurban white‐tailed deer population resided on similar ranges throughout the year, making individuals available for harvest during traditional harvest seasons. To maximize deer—hunter contact, efforts should be focused around the dusk activity period to coincide with peak deer activity.
White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) thrive in exurban habitats, which results in increased occurrences of deer-human conflicts. Controlled hunts are one method currently used by managers to deal with increasing exurban deer populations. To develop successful controlled hunts, managers must understand how deer respond to hunting pressure during controlled hunts. Previous research has documented a varied response of deer to harvest pressure and this response could affect the efficacy of a controlled hunt. We investigated deer responses to controlled hunts by examining an exurban deer population residing on Fair Hill Natural Resource Management Area in Cecil County, Maryland, USA. During controlled hunts in 2005 and 2006, we collected locations on 74 collared adult female deer. The percentage of deer available for harvest decreased 20-25% from before to after the hunt, because deer moved to refuges. Deer in refuges had similar movement rates before, during, and after the hunt, and these movement rates were similar to deer in nonrefuge areas before the hunt. Deer in non-refuge areas increased their movement rates 12.6-15.6 m/hour during the hunt and returned to before-hunt levels after the hunt. Our results suggest that refuges may provide sanctuary to a substantial portion of exurban deer during controlled hunts. To maximize deer harvests during controlled hunts, managers should identify and attempt to eliminate as many refuge areas as possible and plan multiple short-duration hunts to reduce the impact of deer moving into refuge areas. Ó 2013 The Wildlife Society.
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