White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) on the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge Reservation: 1979 status report

Technical Report · Wed Oct 01 04:00:00 EDT 1980

OSTI ID:5127710

Kitchings, J T; Story, J D

Seventy-three white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) were killed by vehicles on the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge Reservation during 1979, an increase of twenty-eight over 1978. Patterns of mortality were similar to those reported in previous documents. During the year, the highest number of deer was killed in October, November, and December. Throughout the year almost twice as many males as females were killed. Reproductive data collected from 19 does revealed that breeding during 1979 probably occurred from early December through early January. Night-lighting showed the same general trends in population increase that were apparent in the road-kill sample. The number of deer night-lighted in 1976 was 11/110 km, while in 1979 the number rose to 40/100 km. the habitat evaluation which began in 1978 was continued in 1979, with a survey of the number of deer trails from a given habitat-type supplementing the radiotelemetry work. Results indicated a preference for cutover areas where immature pine, eastern red cedar, and grasses dominated and for pine plantations where shelter was provided. Upland hardwoods areas were the least preferred.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-26
• OSTI ID: 5127710
• Report Number(s): ORNL/TM-6803/52
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

550100* -- Behavioral Biology
59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
ACCIDENTS
ANIMALS
DATA
DEER
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
HABITAT
INFORMATION
MAMMALS
MORTALITY
NORTH AMERICA
NUMERICAL DATA
OAK RIDGE
POPULATION DYNAMICS
RUMINANTS
SOUTHEAST REGION
TENNESSEE
USA
VERTEBRATES