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- Info
Evaluation of relocation and euthanasia methods for urban deer management
| Author: |
Schwartz, J.A. |
| Date: |
1995 |
| Periodical: |
Thesis submitted to Graduate Faculty of the University of Georgia |
| Abstract: |
White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) have become increasingly abundant in urban and suburban areas. Many urban residents are opposed to lethal methods of deer control and insist that live-capture and relocation of deer is a viable and more humane method of population control. We evaluated the relocation technique in Sea Pines Plantation, Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. Nineteen deer were captured with rocket nets in the southern part of Sea Pines and marked with radio-transmitter collars. Ten of these deer were relocated to the Sea Pines Forest Preserve and 9 deer were released at the capture site. We telemetrically monitored deer movements over 24-hour periods at 1 day, 3 days, 5 weeks, and 10 weeks post-capture, and compared movement rates and post-capture dispersal for relocated deer verses deer that were released on site. Mean movement rates (m/hr) did not differ between the 2 groups of deer nor among the days of post-capture. Relocated deer tended to have greater dispersal away from the release site. We analyzed deer mortality over 3-month and 1-year intervals post-capture. Relocated deer had higher mortality over the 3-month interval because of capture-related causes (P < 0.005, t = 31.8, df = 17) than deer that were released at the capture site. However, deer released on site had greater mortality over the 1-year interval because of higher noncapture-related mortality (P < 0.005, t = 49.6, df = 15). |
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