Three-bar deer capture

[CouesWhitetail]

Hi All,

 

Yesterday I spent the day helping on a research project that is partially funded by the AZ Deer Association. Many of you are familiar with the three-bar enclosure. Deer within the enclosure have been the subject of much study. Well, those mule deer reached a density of 87 deer in that square mile and the AGFD finally decided they wanted to let them out so the fence was put down. Some of you may remember that last year I helped out with deer drive to push the deer out of the enclosure. Well, anyway, there are still many radio collared deer out there and there is still research going on even though the deer are outside the enclosure now. Jim deVos (who recently retired from AGFD as the head of the research branch), the AGFD, Texas Tech University (Dr. Warren Ballard and Dr. Mark Wallace and grad students) and the AZ Deer Association have partnered up to do a study of fawn survival on those deer. Starting last spring, several does were captured and a radio transmitter was put in their reproductive tract such that when they gave birth to their fawns, the transmitter comes out and let's researchers know that fawns are on the ground to be found. Then the fawns are collared and studied to determine survival (or lack their of and causes of death). Last year only 2 of 20 fawns survived. This year they are capturing about 25 does and doing it all over again. Yesterday was the day for capture, checking for pregnancy and inserting the transmitter. We captured and processed about 18 does yesterday. I think all were pregnant and most had twins.

 

Deer are captured by a net shot over them from a helicopter. Then the deer have their legs tied together and they are transported to the workup area where we had two vets, grad students, professors and such there to work them up. It was definitely a traumatic day for these deer. But I guess they are tough enough to go through all this and still maintain their pregnancy. I don't know the time between capture and getting them to us, but we averaged about 9-10 mins of working on them once they were dropped off. Primarily I helped out by spraying the deer down with cold water to keep them cool. This was a challenge as there is a narrow range of temperature where the deer are safe. If they get over 105, everyone gets worried. Most of the deer came in at 103-104 and their temps were climbing. By the time we cooled them down and released them they were at 101-103. One deer required cool intervenous fluids and packing with ice to bring her temp down fast and keep her safe. Any wounds from capture were treated as needed. Mostly they were abrasions, but some cut their lips or nose or foot bad enough to need stitches.

 

here are pics:

 

here is the new game warden for 24A (Danny Rodriguez) helping to pack up a net that had been used on the deer. The nets are fairly small, maybe 6 feet by 6 feet and they have weights in each corner which spread the net out when it's fired at the deer.

 

 

deer dangling from helicopter and on way to area where we work them up:

 

 

 

 

helicopter dropping off deer:

 

 

 

deer were then picked up and placed on a stretcher. They are not drugged, but blindfolded and all four legs tied together with leather straps.

 

 

 

All deer were weighed:

 

 

 

researcher inserting transmitter into deer and vet is doing ultrasound to determine how many fawns and he also used ultrasound to determine the amount of rump fat the deer had as an indicator of condition.

 

 

 

ultrasound monitor

 

 

 

You can imagine this was a very stressful day for these deer and by the time we released them, they hardly looked like graceful deer anymore. It took them a little time to get their coordination after being bound up and in order to avoid having them get captured twice, we put orange flagging on their radio collars and a line of orange spray paint on their backs.

 

 

 

 

 

This is all part of some important research into predator effects on mule deer. In the three-bar enclosure, which had no predators, the deer herd grew to 87 animals per square mile. The habitat didn't appear overgrazed as one might have expected. The deer were in good condition and seemed to be doing well. Comparison of deer condition inside and outside the enclosure found no differences. Comparison of vegetation within and outside the enclosure found no significant differences. So now this part of the study is looking at fawn survival outside the enclosure and trying to document predation and other causes of mortality. I plan to go back in August to help locate fawns so we can watch how they do. If anyone wants to get involved with this, I am sure you would be welcome to come help search for fawns.

 

Amanda

[Browning'sCustomMeat]

Thats pretty neat Amanda! Great story and pics. I haven't been down to Three-bar for quite some time. Glad to see the deer are doing great. Lets hope them fawns this year have a better turn out.

 

-J-

[DesertBull]

Cool

 

Did you capture any Coues or was it all Mule Deer?

[Coues79]

Mindin' your own business then all the sudden, some giant flying thing shoots a net on ya . Can't move, get your legs tied up, get hoisted into the air and dangled by a thread and start flying . Get let down, bi-pedal monsters get you and stick a finger up you know where, leave something behind in there, get let go and not to mention, carrying twins .

 

Man, what a day in the life of a deer.

 

 

 

Cool pics Amanda. Thanks for sharing them and the study!

 

 

[CouesWhitetail]

All mulies. And yes, it was a tough day in the life of those deer. Many of the deer have been handled several times over the years. On the one hand they had it easy for years living without predators in the enclosure and then on the other hand they have been poked and prodded many times.

 

Amanda

 

 

 

[tjhunt2]

Thanks Amanda for sharing. Was there any pigs seen in or around the enclosure?

 

TJ

[COUESAZ]

So what did we learn from the first time. That deer live longer without predators, Or that they die because of drought. I am just wondering. Is there a site to read about what goes on on the inside and what was learned.

 

Maybe they should put a mountain lion in with them to to see what kills them faster. I know thats childish sounding but what do we think would take place

 

 

 

[GameHauler]

Thanks Amanda,

Really enjoyed this post.

I went to a Sheep transplant in 03 when I had my tag.

Very interesting stuff going on in a hurry.

Lots of loving care goes into the animals welfare.

 

I would love to come in August with Amber to get back into

some of the back country with some equipment if needed.

Let me know if I can help.

[KGAINES]

Amanda sounds like you guys did quite a bit with the windy conditions. Hopefully the data that Jim and his group gets will be useful to the future management of our deer herds.

[Coues 'n' Sheep]

 

 

Man, that is cool..... Thanks for posting Amanda! I am sure that Predation is a key factor in those mortality rates.... No trapping of the Coyotes & Bob-kitties, and the ever prolific lions combine to be tuff gauntlet for those fawns to run!

[redline410]

Amanda,

 

Did you get the low down on what caused such a dismal fawn survival rate last year?? I've spent many a year hunting around that enclosure and last Dec/Jan was the worst year I've seen as far as total number of deer. Not a ton of Wile E. Coyotes running around up there but there are a few lions in the general area who have managed to avoid a fatal case of lead, er copper poisoning so I'm just curious how much affect they are having on the populous.

 

Dave

[CouesWhitetail]

As far as a writeup about the research, I don't have a link to any. I know AGFD wrote up an article that I think was in AZ Wildlife Views many months ago. I can't find it on their website. Maybe someone here has a copy of it? The main research analysis isn't done yet and a peer-reviewed research publication will probably be 18-24 months away.

 

I didn't get a complete breakdown of the mortality causes, but I think many were killed by lions and some died of malnutrition.

 

Amanda

[Outdoor Writer]

This is the only mention of the Three Bar study that I recall on the G&F web site. -TONY

 

The effect of fire, predation and vegetation quality on mule deer habitat use and fawn survival

[COUESAZ]

So there was a chance of a lion being in the closed off area. That was what i was wondering about. I was not sure if it was a controled area as far as that kind of stuff went. I hope they make public some more of the findings they have on the rsearch they are doing.

[KGAINES]

I think Amanda answered in regards to the fawn study from last year as far as predation from lions, I don't think it happened in the enclosure.