Age-specific variation in maternal care traits of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) was investigated via radio telemetry using a supplementally fed herd in a 252-ha enclosure. Neonatal mortality averaged 32% when black bears (Ursus americanus) were present vs. 10% when absent; 2and 3-year-old mothers suffered disproportionately greater losses compared to older does. Our findings indicate that the neonate's bedsite habitat, movement patterns, social and/or spatial relationships, and evasive tactics when threatened by predators are largely maternally controlled. Because a doe's fawn-rearing skills improve with experience, older mothers are more successful than younger ones, especially when predation seriously impacts neonatal survival. In such instances a herd age structure favoring physically prime does would constitute an important management goal. J. WILDL. MANAGE. 50(3):480-486 The newborn white-tailed deer is a hider (Lent 1974:22) and highly dependent upon its mother to initiate movement and activity bouts (Cook et al. 1967, Jackson et al. 1972, White et al. 1972, Jacobsen 1979). The mother's hostility toward other deer as parturition approaches excludes them from occupying the same territory she selected for fawning (Ozoga et al. 1982). This behavior assures proper mother-infant bond formation (McCullough 1979: 191) but does not prevent occasionally high neonatal losses to predation (Cook et al., 1971, Carroll and Brown 1977, Garner et al. 1978). Earlier (Ozoga et al. 1982) we described 3 strategies exhibited by white-tailed does during the fawning season that varied according to maternal age and parity. Prime-age does (?-4 years old) were consistently more successful in rearing their fawns compared to younger mothers, regardless of factors of herd density (Ozoga and Verme 1982a), predation (Ozoga and Verme 1982b), or social disruption (Ozoga and Verme 1984). We alluded to, but did not document, the fact that the prime-aged doe's high dominance and close attendance to her young effectively minimized post-natal losses. This study addresses our hypothesis that age-specific variations in maternal care account for differe tial mortality rates of fawns. This paper is a contribution from Mich. Fed. Aid in Wildl. Restor. Proj. W-127-R and the Cusino Wildl. Res. Stn. We are especially indebted to J. L. Ozoga and R. K. Clute for help in radiocollaring fawns. D. L. DeLisle, L. J. This content downloaded from 207.46.13.25 on Mon, 12 Sep 2016 04:23:34 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms J. Wildl. Manage. 50(3):1986 DEER MATERNAL BEHAVIOR * Ozoga and Verme 481 Perry, and other Dep. Nat. Resour. personnel also provided valuable assistance. W. P. Smith and H. R. Hill provided helpful criticism of the manuscript.
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Ozoga et al. (1986) studied this question.