Pennsylvania biologists have conducted some of the most extensive studies on the impact of Eastern Coyotes, Black Bears, Bobcats and Fishers on the Keystone State's estimated 1.5 million Whitetail Deer population...........Every Study reinforces the fact that even with the most robust existing eastern-state-predator-suite at play in Pennsylvania woodlands and farm fields(estimated 20,000 Black Bears and 60-100,000 Eastern Coyotes) , Whitetails are thriving and not recognizing any type of population decline...........Penn State Fish and Wldlife Deer and Elk Unit supervisor Chris Rosenberry emphatically states: "Our field studies have shown repeatedly that predators are the No. 1 cause of fawn mortality, and more often than not, black bears are taking the fawns".............In the most recent 2015-17 study, 82 fawns were captured and fitted with radio collars on the northern study area on the Susquehannock State Forest"............."Another 83 fawns were captured and radio-collared on the southern study area, which included parts of the Rothrock and Bald Eagle state forests".............."There were 44 mortalities on the northern study area: 33 from predators, six from humans and five from natural causes"............ "Bears took 18 fawns; coyotes, eight; bobcats, two; and unknown predator, five"............."The southern study area had 38 mortalities: 18 from predators, 13 natural causes and five from humans"..........."Coyotes took six fawns; bears, five; bobcats, five; and unknown predator, two"...............“But fawn mortality is not causing deer-population reductions anywhere in Pennsylvania"..........“There was no evidence that predators were taking too many of our fawns in any of our 23 Wildlife Management Units"............“They all have stable or growing whitetail populations"

https://www.media.pa.gov/Pages/Game-Commission-Details.aspx?newsid=221


Two Coyotes can kill adult Whitetail Deer but capturing fawns is far easier and
less stressful-view two South Carolina Coyotes killing an adult Whitetail deer(click link to view video)
https://youtu.be/guQDH_fPydQ

 06/26/2018; Pennsylvania Game Commision

FAWN STUDY DOCUMENTS STABLE SURVIVAL RATES

HARRISBURG, PA - Three years of field study, 165 captured fawns and more than 200,000 trail-camera photos again have demonstrated that Pennsylvania has good, stable fawn survival.

The research, which wrapped up in 2017, was started to see if predators – particularly coyotes – were taking more fawns than documented in a two-year study that began in 2000. The Game Commission and Pennsylvania Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit at Penn State (PCFWRU) collaborated to design the study and conduct fieldwork.

Susquehannock and the Rothrock and Bald Eagle
Forests in Pennsylvania run north central to south central
on the map--site of the 2015-17 Deer/predator study

It is generally accepted by wildlife managers that coyotes kill relatively few adult deer. However, this one is carrying an adult deer head. The coyote may not have been involved in killing the deer—it may have scavenged the skull. Credit: Penn State

Although the playing field had changed in the study areas when the second study began in 2015 – Pennsylvania had more predators and deer – the results essentially were the same, according to Christopher Rosenberry, who supervises the agency’s Deer and Elk Section.

“There was no evidence that predators were taking too many of our fawns in any of our 23 Wildlife Management Units,” Rosenberry said. “They all have stable or growing whitetail populations.”

Camera traps are being used more and more by scientists to study the space use of species and the interaction among species. Credit: Penn State

“Our field studies have shown repeatedly that predators are the No. 1 cause of fawn mortality, and more often than not, black bears are taking the fawns,” Rosenberry said. “But fawn mortality is not causing deer-population reductions anywhere in Pennsylvania.”

Consistent fawn survival, coupled with consistent adult deer survival – 90 percent of adult deer survive from one hunting season to the next, has fostered straightforward deer management in Pennsylvania for some time, Rosenberry explained.

But even if the predator-take of fawns did impact deer populations, reductions in antlerless deer licenses would reverse their influence, Rosenberry noted.

The three principal predators that surfaced in the first study resurfaced in the second: black bears, coyotes and bobcats, said Duane Diefenbach, PCFWRU unit leader. Despite growing concern about fishers as deer predators, they didn’t take any fawns in the study. To date, no fisher has ever killed a radio-collared study fawn in North America, he noted.

Bobcats, like the one shown(look hard at lower left third of page, to the left of the straight trunked tree), may avoid areas with coyotes. And, researchers say, they are less efficient predators of fawns than coyotes. Credit: Penn State

In the 2015-17 study, 82 fawns were captured and fitted with radio collars on the northern study area on the Susquehannock State Forest. Another 83 fawns were captured and radio-collared on the southern study area, which included parts of the Rothrock and Bald Eagle state forests.

There were 44 mortalities on the northern study area: 33 from predators, six from humans and five from natural causes. Bears took 18 fawns; coyotes, eight; bobcats, two; and unknown predator, five.

The southern study area had 38 mortalities: 18 from predators, 13 natural causes and five from humans. Coyotes took six fawns; bears, five; bobcats, five; and unknown predator, two.

“Predation was the main source of mortality,” explained Tess Gingery, a Penn State graduate student with the PCFWRU. “It’s that way across North America.

The research is looking at just how fawns are using the landscape and surviving in a space where so many predators are out to get them. The photos show how fawns are using the habitat, and at what times, and how they are co-occurring with predators in Pennsylvania's expansive forests. Credit: Penn State

“Since Pennsylvania’s fawn survival shows little change over time, this means that it’s stable and that makes it simpler for biologists to make harvest management recommendations,” she said.

Most fawn mortality occurred over the first eight weeks of a fawn’s life. Conversely, most human-caused mortality – roads, fences, farming activities and hunting – occurred in the 25- to 30-week window, Gingery said.

Natural mortality – starvation, disease, abandonment – was more pronounced on the southern study area in both the 2000-01 and 2015-17 studies.

Raccoons were detected more than 900 times by trail cams, said Asia Murphy, a Penn State graduate student with the PCFWRU. Bears – about 700 photos – were the most-detected major carnivore.

Penn State researchers says increased numbers of coyotes have not led to decreases in the native deer population.

Interestingly, fawns – about 800 photos – were detected even more than bears, which sheds light on their mobility, as well as the closeness in which they live to carnivores.

Adult deer were detected at 97 percent of camera sites, and fawns at 44 percent. But considering bears were detected at 64 percent of camera sites, followed by coyotes, 36 percent, and bobcats, 33, it’s clear that fawns share habitat with major predators throughout much of their young lives.

Deer and bears prefer forested settings. But in the southern study area, many does summered in farm areas because it was safer for their fawns to reach a size in which they could escape predators, Murphy said. By the fall, fawns returned to forested areas.

“Does are smart,” Murphy said. “They raise their fawns in safe places.”

Does in Penn’s Valley followed the same routine in the earlier study.

Pennsylvania’s latest fawn survival study shows near identical fawn survival rates over the last two decades and corroborates the relatively stable fawn-to-doe ratios collected from annual deer harvests. Consequently, Pennsylvania’s predator impacts do not appear to changing, and if they would, the Game Commission’s has a system in place to respond, if needed.

Whitetails over time have proven their capability to adjust to whatever advantage predators may gain by using behaviors to protect fawns. For example, in addition to using safer areas to raise fawns, does will spend time away from newborn fawns, only returning to feed a few times a day, so as to not attract the attention of predators. White-tailed deer remain one of the Commonwealth’s most versatile creatures. But they share that distinction with coyotes and bears, and that’s why there almost always will be concerns about the whitetail’s wellbeing among some hunters.

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https://phys.org/news/2017-03-trail-cams-predators-deer-fawns.html#nRlv

Trail cams used to monitor predators of deer fawns

March 27, 2017 by Jeff Muhollem, 

Deer fawns in Pennsylvania face a cruel reality—only half of them survive until their first birthday, and much of that mortality results from predation.

Gaining a better understanding of fawn survival and predators was part of the motivation for research that began in 2015. As a part of that study, a researcher in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences is deploying cameras, called trail cams, in Penn's Woods, using a novel technique called camera trapping to gauge numbers and distribution of predators.

Whitetail Fawn hiding in forest floor litter

Collaborating with colleagues in the Penn State-based Pennsylvania Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit and the Pennsylvania Game Commission, doctoral degree candidate Asia Murphy is in the midst of a two-year study using trail cams to monitor bears, coyotes, bobcats, fishers and foxes in parts of three state forests—Bald Eagle, Rothrock and Susquehannock.

At any given time during the warm-weather months, she has 88 trail cams in operation, overlooking sites baited with scent attractants. Those attractants include bobcat urine, plaster-of-paris tablets impregnated with fatty acids, and a special attractant made from skunk glands. Murphy noted that each of these scents has a different appeal to the predator species she is studying. Last year, her trail cams collected thousands of photos, with many "captures" of predators.

Black Bear with Deer fawn dinner

"I'm interested in looking at just how these fawns are using the landscape and surviving in this space where all these predators are out to get them," said Murphy, who earned her undergraduate degree in fisheries and wildlife science from North Carolina State University and a master's degree in fish and wildlife conservation from Virginia Tech University. "The photos show how are they using the habitat, and at what times, and how they are co-occurring with predators in these big forests."

The first question the researchers hope to answer is whether there is a relationship between where predators are found and where fawns survive, explained Duane Diefenbach, adjunct professor of wildlife ecology, who is Murphy's adviser. For example, he noted, there is evidence to suggest that fawn predation is greater in forested habitats compared to agricultural lands. If so, this study will be able to measure the variation in the distribution of predators.

Deer fawn hiding in field

Second, camera traps record not only where we find predators but where we don't, added Diefenbach, who is leader of the Pennsylvania Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit. This may be important to fawn survival in certain forest habitats, such as areas with denser understory vegetation.

"Third, camera traps are being used more and more by scientists to study the space use of species and the interaction among species," he said. "The multi-predator system that exists in Pennsylvania means that these predators have to share space and prey. We're hoping that Asia's work will provide a greater understanding of the interrelationships of these predators."

Eastern Coyote capturing Whitetail fawn

After a season of camera trapping in Pennsylvania, Murphy—who came to Penn State solely to conduct this research, in part, because "the project sounded cool"—has perhaps more questions than answers about predators.

The research might show whether the predators are avoiding each other, she pointed out. For instance, it is known that coyotes kill bobcats, so her results might show that coyotes and bobcats are not using the same habitat areas. "If they are avoiding each other, then it might be safer for fawns to be in areas both predators aren't using," she said.

Not a simple meal to obtain-Two Eastern Coyotes killing
an adult Whitetail

"Predators differ, in time and space, in how dangerous they are to fawns. We know bobcats are not as efficient as coyotes at preying on very young fawns. So if bobcats are avoiding an area because there are coyotes there, it might be a better area for older fawns."

A native of Sacramento, California, Murphy is uniquely qualified to conduct the research in Pennsylvania. Before arriving at Penn State, she participated for two years in a Virginia Tech camera-trapping project focused on carnivores in Madagascar's Makira National Park. She started camera trapping in 2011 when she was an undergraduate using trail cams to study carnivore distribution in southwest Virginia.

Eastern Coyote has a Fawn meal

"With wildlife, cameras can teach us a lot that we can't learn with traditional research methods," she said. "But they still can't tell us everything."