https://cpw.cvlcollections.org/files/original/d91d04fb7e45f181a30266152a720670.pdf 7cb29a56995bf1bfb5e3ee6a2e490e05 PDF Text Text The research in this publication was partially or fully funded by Colorado Parks and Wildlife. Dan Prenzlow, Director, Colorado Parks and Wildlife • Parks and Wildlife Commission: Marvin McDaniel, Chair • Carrie Besnette Hauser, Vice-Chair Marie Haskett, Secretary • Taishya Adams • Betsy Blecha • Charles Garcia • Dallas May • Duke Phillips, IV • Luke B. Schafer • James Jay Tutchton • Eden Vardy �Wildlife Society Bulletin 42(4):616–621; 2018; DOI: 10.1002/wsb.935 Original Article Using Maternal Mule Deer Movements to Estimate Timing of Parturition and Assist Fawn Captures MARK E. PETERSON,1,2 Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology, Colorado State University, 1474 Campus Delivery, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA CHARLES R. ANDERSON, JR, Mammals Research Section, Colorado Parks and Wildlife, 317 W Prospect Road, Fort Collins, CO 80526, USA MATHEW W. ALLDREDGE, Mammals Research Section, Colorado Parks and Wildlife, 317 W Prospect Road, Fort Collins, CO 80526, USA PAUL F. DOHERTY, JR, Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology, Colorado State University, 1474 Campus Delivery, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA ABSTRACT Movement patterns of maternal ungulates have been used to determine parturition dates and aid in locating fawns, which may be important for understanding reproductive rates (e.g., pregnancy and fetal), but such methods have not been validated for mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus). We first determined timing of parturition using vaginal implant transmitters (VITs) and then predicted timing of parturition using VITs in conjunction with Global Positioning System collar data in the Piceance Basin of northwestern Colorado, USA, during 2012–2014. We examined daily movement rate to determine differences in movement rate among days (7 days pre- and postpartum) and for movement patterns indicative of parturition. Mean daily movement rate (m/day) of 102 maternal deer decreased by 46% from 1 day preparturition (�x ¼ 1,253, SD ¼ 1,091) to parturition date (�x ¼ 682, SD ¼ 574), and remained at this low rate 1–7 days postpartum. We applied an independent data set to validate predicted parturition dates based on daily movement rate. We estimated day of parturition correctly (i.e., day 0), within 1–3 days postparturition, and �4 days postparturition of field-reported dates for 10 (29%), 21 (60%), and 4 (11%) maternal females, respectively. For novel data sets, we predict that a mule deer female whose daily movement rate decreases by �46% and remains low �3 days postparturition particularly when preceded by a sudden increase in movement—has given birth. However, we caution that disturbance of deer by field crews should be minimized, and if birth sites are not found, neonatal mortality will be underestimated. Our results can help determine timing and general location of parturition as an aid in capturing fawns when the use of VITs is not feasible, with the ultimate objective of estimating pregnancy, fetal, and fawn survival rates if birth sites are found. Ó 2018 The Wildlife Society. KEY WORDS birth, Colorado, Global Positioning System, movement, mule deer, Odocoileus hemionus, vaginal implant transmitter. Determining parturition dates and locating birth sites are important for estimating pregnancy, fetal, and fawn survival rates (Peterson et al. 2017, 2018), which are needed to accurately quantify fawn recruitment and comprehend population dynamics of ungulates (Gaillard et al. 1998, Eberhardt 2002, Bonenfant et al. 2005, Forrester and Wittmer 2013). Maternal deer movement patterns from Global Positioning System (GPS) collar data (Long et al. 2009), daily triangulation, and daily radiolocations from an aircraft have been used to approximate parturition date and aid in locating fawns (Huegel et al. 1985, Received: 19 January 2018; Accepted: 14 October 2018 Published: 23 December 2018 1 E-mail: mark.peterson313@gmail.com Present address: South Dakota Department of Game, Fish and Parks, 4130 Adventure Trail, Rapid City, SD 57702, USA. 2 616 Kunkel and Mech 1994, Carstensen et al. 2003). However, problems potentially exist for effective location of birth sites, neonates, and fawns with these methods. First and most importantly, fawns may not always be located in a timely manner and stillbirths and early mortalities may not be detected, which bias survival estimates (Huegel et al. 1985, Kunkel and Mech 1994, Gilbert et al. 2014, Chitwood et al. 2016). Second, when twins occur, they are not often together and often are missed when relying upon dam behavior (Carstensen et al. 2003). Third, use of triangulation and radiolocations requires daily monitoring that demands extensive logistical and financial considerations. Last, unnecessary disturbance of maternal–fawn interactions occur if fawns are not located on the first attempt and subsequent trips are needed. To better understand how maternal movement rates reflect parturition dates, knowing movement and parturition dates Wildlife Society Bulletin � 42(4) �with minimal error is needed. The use of vaginal implant transmitters (VITs) allow for limited error in determining parturition dates and locations, but is costly (Bishop et al. 2009, 2011; Carstensen et al. 2009). Relying upon maternal deer movement rates to identify parturition dates is cheaper and easier, but has not been validated with VITs. Thus, we compared GPS collar movement and VIT data to evaluate the efficacy of determining exact parturition date for mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) similar to what has been done for elk (Cervus elaphus; Vore and Schmidt 2001). Using movement patterns of maternal ungulates to determine parturition date is possible because movements often change substantially after parturition (Huegel et al. 1985, Vore and Schmidt 2001, Long et al. 2009). Specifically, deer restricted movement rates by approximately 50% to stay within an area 1–7 days after parturition (Huegel et al. 1985, Long et al. 2009). Based on previous studies (Huegel et al. 1985, Long et al. 2009), we predicted that mule deer movement rates would significantly decrease immediately after parturition and continue to be reduced for up to 7 days after parturition. Our goal was to apply VITs to signal birth events and locations and GPS movement data to assess reliability of GPS data alone to detect mule deer birth events and aid in capturing fawns. These data can be applied to facilitate fawn capture efforts and pregnancy and fawn survival rate estimates without the increased expense and effort associated with traditional VIT studies if birth sites are found. STUDY AREA We examined daily movement rates (m/day) of maternal mule deer relative to parturition date in the Piceance Basin of northwestern Colorado, USA, during 2012–2014. Deer in this area migrated from low-elevation winter ranges to highelevation summer ranges where they gave birth (Lendrum et al. 2013). Summer ranges covered parts of Garfield, Moffat, Rio Blanco, and Routt counties in northwestern Colorado (39.5808N, �107.9618W and 40.3308N, �107.0288W) and elevations ranged from 1,900 m to 3,150 m above sea level. Summer range habitat was dominated by Gambel oak (Quercus gambelii), mountain mahogany (Cercocarpus montanus), Utah serviceberry (Amelanchier utahensis), mountain snowberry (Symphoricarpos oreophilus), chokecherry (Prunus virginiana), quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides), big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata), two-needle pinyon pine (Pinus edulis), and Utah juniper (Juniperus osteosperma). Dominant habitat was interspersed with Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii), Engelmann spruce (Picea engelmannii), and subalpine fir (Abies lasiocarpa) forests (Garrott et al. 1987). Shrubs, forbs, and grasses common to the area have been described (Bartmann 1983, Bartmann et al. 1992). METHODS Adult Female Capture and Handling In early December 2011–2013, a helicopter crew captured adult female mule deer (�1.5 yr old) using helicopter netPeterson et al. � Estimating Parturition Date of Deer gunning techniques (Webb et al. 2008, Jacques et al. 2009). The helicopter crew blindfolded and hobbled deer, and chemically sedated them with 0.5 mg/kg of Midazolam and 0.25 mg/kg of Azaperone intramuscularly. We fit each captured deer with a GPS radiocollar (Model G2110D; Advanced Telemetry Systems, Inc., Isanti, MN, USA) programmed to obtain locations at 5-hr intervals. In early March 2012–2014, a helicopter crew recaptured radiocollared adult females as described for December captures. For each captured deer, we determined pregnancy status and number of in utero fetuses using ultrasonography (SonoVet 2000; Universal Medical Systems, Inc., Bedford Hills, NY, USA; Stephenson et al. 1995, Bishop et al. 2007). If an adult female was pregnant, we inserted a VIT (Model M3930; Advanced Telemetry Systems, Inc.; Bishop et al. 2011, Peterson 2016, Peterson et al. 2018). All capture, handling, radiocollaring, and VIT insertion procedures were approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee at Colorado Parks and Wildlife (protocol #17-2008 and #01-2012) and followed guidelines of the American Society of Mammalogists (Sikes et al. 2016). Adult Female Monitoring and Location of Birth Sites During the parturition period (late May–mid-Jul), we checked radiocollar and VIT signals daily from a Cessna 182 or 185 (Cessna Aircraft Co., Wichita, KS, USA) fixedwing aircraft, weather permitting. Ground crews simultaneously located the radiocollared adult female and VIT by homing on the ground after we detected a fast pulse rate (80 beats/min) signifying expulsion and presumably birth. Ground crews then grid searched for fawns and a birth site near (�400 m) the female and expelled VIT for up to 1 hr because fawns can leave birth sites within 6 hr of birth (Johnstone-Yellin et al. 2006, Peterson et al. 2018). Crews retrieved VITs and recorded location of birth sites using a hand-held GPS (Garmin GPSMAP 62S, Oregon 650, or Montana 650; Garmin International Inc., Olathe, KS, USA). Daily Movements of Maternal Females and Parturition Date We programmed radiocollars deployed on adult females to release 16 months following initial capture. We retrieved radiocollars associated with collar drop or mortalities and downloaded GPS data. We imported data into ArcMap 10.2 (Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc., Redlands, CA, USA) to determine locations for each female. To calculate daily movement when locations overlapped midnight, we divided the distance moved by 5 and multiplied it by the number of hours in each day. We analyzed daily movement rate of maternal females relative to parturition date and determined exact parturition dates based on VIT expulsion date. We fixed the parturition date of each female equal to zero and calculated dates before and after as negative and positive, respectively. We then calculated daily movement rate from 7 days pre- and postpartum and percent change relative to the previous day. Field crews disturbed females when attempting to confirm birth and capture fawns, contributing to increased movement after 617 �parturition; thus, we censored one location encompassing the time of a search for all deer (Peterson et al. 2018). Methods and Validation Procedure We examined daily movement rate of each female from 7 days pre- and postpartum to determine differences in movement rates. Specifically, we looked for patterns indicative of parturition, including a long-distance movement followed by a significant decrease immediately after parturition (Huegel et al. 1985, Vore and Schmidt 2001, Long et al. 2009). We used overlap of 95% confidence intervals to assess significant differences in movement rates. To determine the utility of our observations, we used an independent data set that was collected for an ongoing study focused on deer demographics in the Piceance Basin (Anderson 2017) using the same methodology described above. We used the independent data set from deer captured in 2015 to estimate day of parturition based on daily movement rate. We plotted daily movement rate of each deer from 7 days preparturition to 7 days postparturition. We then examined these data without knowledge of field-reported parturition dates and estimated day of parturition using 2 different rules. We estimated day of parturition when daily movement rate of each deer decreased by �46% and remained at this low rate for �3 days, particularly when preceded by a sudden increase in movement (rule 1). Alternatively, we estimated day of parturition when deer moved �700 m/day and remained at this low rate for �3 days (rule 2). Lastly, we evaluated how our estimated parturition dates compared with field-reported parturition dates. RESULTS During March 2012–2014, we documented pregnancy status of 348 females and inserted VITs in 331 pregnant females. We were unable to monitor VITs in 124 females for various reasons (e.g., denied access to private property, VITs malfunctioned, mortalities before parturition). We located 140 birth sites and found VITs at 120 of those sites. Movement data were not available for 25 females because of various reasons (e.g., GPS collar malfunctions, mortalities before parturition) and we excluded these females from the analysis as well as 13 females who produced stillborns. Ultimately, we analyzed movement data for 102 maternal females (i.e., produced live fawn) from 2012 to 2014. Daily Movements of Maternal Females Maternal mule deer moved significantly more 1 day preparturition (�x ¼ 1,253 m, SD ¼ 1,091 m) than the day of parturition (�x ¼ 682 m, SD ¼ 574 m; Fig. 1A), a 46% reduction in mean daily movement rate (Fig. 1B). On average, maternal deer moved �700 m/day from 1 to 7 days postparturition (Fig. 1A), but movement varied 1–7 days preparturition (Fig. 2A), on day of parturition (Fig. 2B), and 1–7 days postparturition (Fig. 2C). Of the maternal females (n ¼ 102) comprising the 2012–2014 data set, 39 (38%) made a long-distance movement 1 day preparturition (�x ¼ 2,344 m, range ¼ 1,336–5,867 m; Fig. 3A) and 36 (35%) made a long-distance movement 2–4 days preparturition (�x ¼ 2,466 m, range ¼ 1,302–10,297 m). 618 Figure 1. Mean daily movement (A; error bars ¼ 95% CI) and change in movement rate (B) of maternal mule deer from 7 days pre- and postparturition in the Piceance Basin, Colorado, USA, 2012–2014. Of the maternal females (n ¼ 35) comprising the independent data set, 18 (51%) made a long-distance movement 1 day preparturition (�x ¼ 5,699 m, range ¼ 1,332–16,356 m; Fig. 3A) and 11 (31%) made a long-distance movement 2–4 days preparturition (�x ¼ 2,066 m, range ¼ 1,375–3,217 m. Using rule 1, we estimated day of parturition correctly (i.e., day 0), 1–3 days postparturition, and �4 days postparturition of field-reported dates for 10, 21, and 4 maternal females, respectively (Table 1). Using rule 2, we estimated day of parturition correctly, 1–3 days postparturition, and �4 days postparturition of field-reported dates for 9, 18, and 8 maternal females, respectively (Table 1). Post hoc examination of data showed daily movement rate declined during day of parturition, but suddenly increased on subsequent days for females who produced stillborns (Fig. 3B). Barren females did not exhibit a sustained decline in movement of �46% or <700 m/day (Fig. 3C). DISCUSSION As predicted, maternal mule deer exhibited distinct daily movement patterns before versus after parturition. Parturient female deer tend to seek isolation and display restlessness 1–2 days before parturition (Clutton-Brock and Guinness 1975, Townsend and Bailey 1975), which can contribute to increased movement just prior to parturition. Thus, we suggest that a maternal mule deer whose daily movement rate suddenly increases may be within 1–4 day(s) of giving birth (i.e., rule 1). We also suggest that a maternal deer whose daily movement rate decreases by �46% has given birth (i.e., rule Wildlife Society Bulletin � 42(4) �Figure 2. Distribution of movement rates of maternal mule deer from 1 to 7 days preparturition (A), on day of parturition (B), and from 1 to 7 days postparturition (C) in the Piceance Basin, Colorado, USA, 2012–2014. 1). Restricted movement of females after parturition may be attributable to fawns that are entirely dependent on a hiding strategy for survival because of vulnerability to predation (Lent 1974, Geist 1981, Bishop et al. 2009, Monteith et al. 2014, Shallow et al. 2015). Application of GPS movement data can provide information about mule deer parturition to enhance data collection efforts addressing pregnancy rates and fawn monitoring. We suggest that GPS collar data surrounding a parturition period be plotted to detect a sudden increase and then sustained reduction in daily movement rate to identify parturition date. Increased movement prior to parturition is Figure 3. Examples of mean daily movement rate of mule deer from 7 days pre- and postparturition representing viable mule deer fawn (A) and stillborn neonates (B), and a barren female (C) in the Piceance Basin, Colorado, USA, 2012–2014. A sudden and sustained reduction in daily movement rate of �46% suggests a female has given birth, particularly when preceded by a sudden increase in movement. fairly consistent among parturient females and subsequent births following this behavior are highly likely. Eliminating or reducing disturbance of deer by field crews is advised to provide accurate estimates of parturition dates. The recent advent of 2-way satellite communication and remotely downloadable collars paired with our method could reduce aerial and field monitoring and allow for verification of parturition to estimate pregnancy rate and capture of fawns without VITs. Other studies have successfully used real-time movement patterns of radiocollared ungulates without using Table 1. Differences in estimating day of parturition correctly (i.e., day 0), parturition within 1–3 days postparturition, and �4 days postparturition of fieldreported dates using 2 different rules and likelihood of detecting mule deer fawns within 3 days postparturition, Piceance Basin, Colorado, USA, 2012–2014. Rulea Day of parturition (%) 1 2 a 29 26 1–3 days postparturition (%) �4 days postparturition (%) Successful births detected �3 days postparturition (%) 60 51 11 23 89 77 Rule 1: mean daily movement rate decreased by �46% for 3–4 days, particularly when preceded by a sudden increase in movement. Rule 2: mean daily movement rate decreased �700 m/day for 3–4 days. Peterson et al. � Estimating Parturition Date of Deer 619 �VITs to document parturition (DeMars et al. 2013, McGraw et al. 2014) and aid in capture of moose (Alces americanus) calves (Severud et al. 2015); whereas, we validated movement patterns of radiocollared mule deer and developed a method to determine parturition dates and detect birth events to aid in capture of fawns. If fetal and fawn survival rates are desired in addition to parturition date, then a combination of our method with real-time GPS data could be used to send field-capture crews in at the correct time to find birth sites (i.e., when daily movement rate decreases �46%, particularly when preceded by a long-distance movement). Specifically, a suspected parturition event could be investigated by locating the radiocollared female and observing her behavior to determine whether parturition occurred and aid in capturing fawns and possibly detecting stillborn neonates and early mortalities (Huegel et al. 1985, Carstensen et al. 2003). However, use of GPS data to locate exact birth sites could be difficult without VITs, so finding stillborns could be limited. Still birth rates could be underestimated using the GPS data approach and requires further evaluation. Our approach following rule 1 provided 89% detection of fawn births within 3 days, when fawn movements are still limited and could provide for capture and collaring efforts (Jackson et al. 1972, Geist 1981). Capturing fawns within 3 days after birth increases capture success compared with �4 days after birth. Detection success could be enhanced by field investigations of reduced movements immediately following detection from GPS data (within 1 day) and possibly by using a finer temporal scale than the 5-hour intervals we used. A finer temporal scale and real-time monitoring of GPS point clusters may enhance success in finding birth sites and detecting stillborn neonates to estimate accurate fetal rates. A study has successfully used fine-scale movement patterns (i.e., 20-min intervals) of radiocollared moose without using VITs to identify birth sites (McGraw et al. 2014). Following our suggestions could maximize capture of fawns �3 days old to minimize bias in survival estimates (Gilbert et al. 2014, Chitwood et al. 2016). Technologically advanced radiocollars and VITs are increasingly being used to study and comprehend population dynamics (Hebblewhite and Haydon 2010). Knowledge of parturition dates and locations and pregnancy and survival rates are needed to fully comprehend population dynamics of ungulates (Gaillard et al. 1998, Bonenfant et al. 2005, Forrester and Wittmer 2013). Ultimately, our proposed method could help validate such estimates when the use of VITs is not cost-effective or logistically feasible. MANAGEMENT IMPLICATIONS For field biologists and managers, this study provides a method for determining parturition date and pregnancy rate for mule deer and potentially other ungulates. Our method paired with real-time GPS data can also be applied to facilitate fawn capture and fetal and fawn survival rate estimates without the increased expense and effort associated with traditional VIT studies. However, fetal rates can only be estimated if stillborns are detected and fawns should be captured close to birth for unbiased estimates of survival. We 620 recommend that managers use the indicator of daily movement rate decreasing by �46% and remaining low �3 days postparturition (i.e., rule 1), particularly when preceded by a sudden increase in movement, to estimate parturition date and pregnancy and fetal rates. Of importance, our method has the advantages of being simple, intuitive, and economical, but has the disadvantage of being qualitative. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS We thank L. L. Wolfe, E. J. Bergman, and C. J. Bishop for assisting with ultrasound and vaginal implant transmitter insertion. Fixed-wing pilots L. L. Gepfert and L. A. Coulter provided assistance with aerial telemetry flights and Quicksilver Air, Inc. assisted with deer captures. We thank personnel from Colorado Parks and Wildlife Area 6, numerous field technicians, and volunteers for project coordination and assistance with field work. J. M. Northrup provided assistance with calculating daily movement rates. E. J. Bergman provided valuable insight and discussion. M. Festa-Bianchet, S. P. Haskell, D. B. Johnston, K. A. Logan, P. J. Meiman, G. Wittemyer, and 1 anonymous referee improved the manuscript through constructive reviews. Project funding was provided by ExxonMobil Production/XTO Energy, Williams/WPX Energy, Shell Exploration and Production, EnCana Corporation, Marathon Oil Corporation, Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration, the Colorado Mule Deer Foundation, the Colorado Mule Deer Association, the Boone and Crockett Club, Colorado Chapter of the Wildlife Society, and the Colorado State Severance Tax. LITERATURE CITED Anderson, C. R., Jr. 2017. Population performance of Piceance basin mule deer in response to natural gas resource extraction and mitigation efforts to address human activity and habitat degradation. Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Job Progress Report W-185-R, Colorado Parks and Wildlife, Fort Collins, USA. Bartmann, R. M. 1983. Composition and quality of mule deer diets on pinyon–juniper winter range, Colorado. Journal of Range Management 36:534–541. Bartmann, R. M., G. C. White, and L. H. Carpenter. 1992. Compensatory mortality in a Colorado mule deer population. Wildlife Monographs 121. Bishop, C. J., C. R. Anderson, Jr., D. P. Walsh, E. J. Bergman, P. Kuechle, and J. Roth. 2011. Effectiveness of a redesigned vaginal implant transmitter in mule deer. Journal of Wildlife Management 75:1797–1806. Bishop, C. J., D. J. Freddy, G. C. White, B. E. Watkins, T. R. Stephenson, and L. L. Wolfe. 2007. Using vaginal implant transmitters to aid in capture of mule deer neonates. Journal of Wildlife Management 71:945–954. Bishop, C. J., G. C. White, D. J. Freddy, B. E. Watkins, and T. R. Stephenson. 2009. Effect of enhanced nutrition on mule deer population rate of change. Wildlife Monographs 172. Bonenfant, C., J. M. Gaillard, F. Klein, and J. L. Hamann. 2005. Can we use the young:female ratio to infer ungulate population dynamics? An empirical test using red deer Cervus elaphus as a model. Journal of Applied Ecology 42:361–370. Carstensen, M., G. D. DelGiudice, and B. A. Sampson. 2003. Using doe behavior and vaginal-implant transmitters to capture neonate white-tailed deer in north-central Minnesota. Wildlife Society Bulletin 31:634–641. Carstensen, M., G. D. DelGiudice, B. A. Sampson, and D. W. Kuehn. 2009. Survival, birth characteristics, and cause-specific mortality of whitetailed deer neonates. Journal of Wildlife Management 73:175–183. Chitwood, M. C., M. A. Lashley, C. S. DePerno, and C. E. Moorman. 2016. Considerations on neonatal ungulate capture method: potential for Wildlife Society Bulletin � 42(4) �bias in survival estimation and cause-specific mortality. Wildlife Biology: wlb.00250. Clutton-Brock, T. H., and F. E. Guinness. 1975. Behaviour of red deer (Cervus elaphus l.) at calving time. Behaviour 55:287–300. DeMars, C. A., M. Auger-Methe, U. E. Schlagel, and S. Boutin. 2013. Inferring parturition and neonate survival from movement patterns of female ungulates: a case study using woodland caribou. Ecology and Evolution 3:4149–4160. Eberhardt, L. L. 2002. A paradigm for population analysis of long-lived vertebrates. Ecology 83:2841–2854. Forrester, T. D., and H. U. Wittmer. 2013. A review of the population dynamics of mule deer and black-tailed deer Odocoileus hemionus in North America. Mammal Review 43:292–308. Gaillard, J. M., M. Festa-Bianchet, and N. G. Yoccoz. 1998. Population dynamics of large herbivores: variable recruitment with constant adult survival. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 13:58–63. Garrott, R. A., G. C. White, R. M. Bartmann, L. H. Carpenter, and A. W. Alldredge. 1987. Movements of female mule deer in northwest Colorado. Journal of Wildlife Management 51:634–643. Geist, V. 1981. Behavior: adaptive strategies in mule deer. Pages 157–224 in O. C. Wallmo, editor. Mule and black-tailed deer of North America. University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, USA. Gilbert, S. L., M. S. Lindberg, K. J. Hundertmark, and D. K. Person. 2014. Dead before detection: addressing the effects of left truncation on survival estimation and ecological inference for neonates. Methods in Ecology and Evolution 5:992–1001. Hebblewhite, M., and D. T. Haydon. 2010. Distinguishing technology from biology: a critical review of the use of GPS telemetry data in ecology. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 365:2303–2312. Huegel, C. N., R. B. Dahlgren, and H. L. Gladfelter. 1985. Use of doe behavior to capture white-tailed deer fawns. Wildlife Society Bulletin 13:287–289. Jackson, R. M., M. White, and F. F. Knowlton. 1972. Activity patterns of young white-tailed deer fawns in south Texas. Ecology 53:262–270. Jacques, C. N., J. A. Jenks, C. S. Deperno, J. D. Sievers, T. W. Grovenburg, T. J. Brinkman, C. C. Swanson, and B. A. Stillings. 2009. Evaluating ungulate mortality associated with helicopter net-gun captures in the northern Great Plains. Journal of Wildlife Management 73:1282–1291. Johnstone-Yellin, T. L., L. A. Shipley, and W. L. Myers. 2006. Effectiveness of vaginal implant transmitters for locating neonatal mule deer fawns. Wildlife Society Bulletin 34:338–344. Kunkel, K. E., and L. D. Mech. 1994. Wolf and bear predation on whitetailed deer fawns in northeastern Minnesota. Canadian Journal of Zoology 72:1557–1565. Lendrum, P. E., C. R. Anderson, Jr., K. L. Monteith, J. A. Jenks, and R. T. Bowyer. 2013. Migrating mule deer: effects of anthropogenically altered landscapes. PLoS ONE 8:e64548. Peterson et al. � Estimating Parturition Date of Deer Lent, P. C. 1974. Mother–infant relationship in ungulates. Pages 14–55 in V. Geist and F. R. Walther, editors. The behaviour of ungulates and its relation to management. International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, Morges, Switzerland. Long, R. A., J. G. Kie, R. T. Bowyer, and M. A. Hurley. 2009. Resource selection and movements by female mule deer Odocoileus hemionus: effects of reproductive stage. Wildlife Biology 15:288–298. McGraw, A. M., J. Terry, and R. Moean. 2014. Pre-parturition movement patterns and birth site characteristics of moose. Alces 50:93–103. Monteith, K. L., V. C. Bleich, T. R. Stephenson, B. M. Pierce, M. M. Conner, J. G. Kie, and R. T. Bowyer. 2014. Life-history characteristics of mule deer: effects of nutrition in a variable environment. Wildlife Monographs 186. Peterson, M. E. 2016. Reproductive success, habitat selection, and neonatal mule deer mortality in a natural gas development area. Dissertation, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, USA. Peterson, M. E., C. R. Anderson, Jr., J. M. Northrup, and P. F. Doherty, Jr. 2017. Reproductive success of mule deer in a natural gas development area. Wildlife Biology 2017:wlb.00341. Peterson, M. E., C. R. Anderson, Jr., J. M. Northrup, and P. F. Doherty, Jr. 2018. Mortality of mule deer fawns in a natural gas development area. Journal of Wildlife Management 82:1135–1148. Severud, W. J., G. D. DelGiudice, T. R. Obermoller, T. A. Enright, R. G. Wright, and J. D. Forester. 2015. Using GPS collars to determine parturition and cause-specific mortality of moose calves. Wildlife Society Bulletin 39:616–625. Shallow, J. R. T., M. A. Hurley, K. L. Monteith, and R. T. Bowyer. 2015. Cascading effects of habitat on maternal condition and life-history characteristics of neonatal mule deer. Journal of Mammalogy 96:194–205. Sikes, R. S., and the Animal Care and Use Committee of the American Society of Mammalogists. 2016. Guidelines of the American Society of Mammalogists for the use of wild mammals in research. Journal of Mammalogy 97:663–688. Stephenson, T. R., J. W. Testa, G. P. Adams, R. G. Sasser, C. G. Schwartz, and K. J. Hundertmark. 1995. Diagnosis of pregnancy and twinning in moose by ultrasonography and serum assay. Alces 31:167–172. Townsend, T. W., and E. D. Bailey. 1975. Parturitional, early maternal, and neonatal behavior in penned white-tailed deer. Journal of Mammalogy 56:347–362. Vore, J. M., and E. M. Schmidt. 2001. Movements of female elk during calving season in northwest Montana. Wildlife Society Bulletin 29:720–725. Webb, S. L., J. S. Lewis, D. G. Hewitt, M. W. Hellickson, and F. C. Bryant. 2008. Assessing the helicopter and net gun as a capture technique for white-tailed deer. Journal of Wildlife Management 72:310–314. Associate Editor: Haskell. 621 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Journal Articles Description An account of the resource CPW peer-reviewed journal publications Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Using maternal mule deer movements to estimate timing of parturition and assist fawn captures Description An account of the resource <span>Movement patterns of maternal ungulates have been used to determine parturition dates and aid in locating fawns, which may be important for understanding reproductive rates (e.g., pregnancy and fetal), but such methods have not been validated for mule deer (</span><i>Odocoileus hemionus</i><span>). We first determined timing of parturition using vaginal implant transmitters (VITs) and then predicted timing of parturition using VITs in conjunction with Global Positioning System collar data in the Piceance Basin of northwestern Colorado, USA, during 2012–2014. We examined daily movement rate to determine differences in movement rate among days (7 days pre- and postpartum) and for movement patterns indicative of parturition. Mean daily movement rate (m/day) of 102 maternal deer decreased by 46% from 1 day preparturition (</span><span> = 1,253, SD = 1,091) to parturition date (</span><span> = 682, SD = 574), and remained at this low rate 1–7 days postpartum. We applied an independent data set to validate predicted parturition dates based on daily movement rate. We estimated day of parturition correctly (i.e., day 0), within 1–3 days postparturition, and ≥4 days postparturition of field-reported dates for 10 (29%), 21 (60%), and 4 (11%) maternal females, respectively. For novel data sets, we predict that a mule deer female whose daily movement rate decreases by ≥46% and remains low ≥3 days postparturition particularly when preceded by a sudden increase in movement—has given birth. However, we caution that disturbance of deer by field crews should be minimized, and if birth sites are not found, neonatal mortality will be underestimated. Our results can help determine timing and general location of parturition as an aid in capturing fawns when the use of VITs is not feasible, with the ultimate objective of estimating pregnancy, fetal, and fawn survival rates if birth sites are found.</span> Bibliographic Citation A bibliographic reference for the resource. Recommended practice is to include sufficient bibliographic detail to identify the resource as unambiguously as possible. <p>Peterson, M. E., C. R. Anderson Jr, M. W. Alldredge, and P. F. Doherty Jr. 2018. Using maternal mule deer movements to estimate timing of parturition and assist fawn captures. Wildlife Society Bulletin 42:616–621. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/wsb.935" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://doi.org/10.1002/wsb.935</a></p> Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Peterson, Mark E. Anderson Jr, Charles R. Alldredge, Mathew W. Doherty Jr, Paul F. Subject The topic of the resource Birth Colorado Global Positioning System (GPS) Movement Mule deer <em>Odocoileus hemionus</em> Vaginal implant transmitter Extent The size or duration of the resource. 6 pages Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 2018-12-23 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <div class="element"> <div class="element-text"><a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-NC/1.0/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">In Copyright - Non-Commercial Use Permitted</a></div> </div> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource English Is Part Of A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included. Wildlife Society Bulletin Type The nature or genre of the resource Article