Blog #3 – Black-tailed Deer Ecology

Deer (white-tailed [Odocoileus virginianus] and blacktailed [O. hemionus]) comprise a small percentage of the remains in the Chacoan archaeofaunal assemblages (Akins, 1985, 1987). Deer in the region eat a variety of forbs, grasses, shrubs, and succulents (Raught, 1967; Taylor, 1963; Mierau & Schmidt, 1981; Heffelfinger, 2006; O’Brien et al., 2006). They are able to satisfy their water needs by eating plants with high water content during the cooler months, but they become obligate drinkers when summer temperatures soar and plant moisture content is low (Raught, 1967; Rosenstock et al., 2004; O’Brien et al, 2006). Deer are philopatric in many western regions, meaning they establish home ranges within 1 or 2 years of birth and those that have seasonal rounds return to the same locations each season (Dasmann & Taber, 1956;Raught, 1967). The average home range varies from 1 to 2 km2 to approximately 60 km2, but the majority of studies record home ranges  10 km2 (Dasmann & Taber, 1956; Raught, 1967; Mierau & Schmidt, 1981; Wallmo, 1981; Relyea, Lawrence, & Demaris, 2000). Adult males may have home ranges twice the size of female home ranges, and males may venture up to 12 km outside of their home ranges during the fall mating season (Raught, 1967; Mierau & Schmidt, 1981; Wallmo, 1981; Relyea, Lawrence, & Demaris, 2000). Herds may disperse whenfood is seasonally scarce, although traveling only as far asneeded (5–30 km) to find forage; otherwise they tend toward philopatry (Taylor, 1963; Raught, 1967; Rue, 1988).