Coyotes and Deer

Coyotes and Deer
News

Local wildlife panorama now includes deer-killing coyotes February 21, 2020 Delaware, CapeGazette.com
...  “Coyotes run their prey down from the rear and rip into them from that direction. I don’t think the coyotes ate any of the deer unless one of them ate its entrails.” ...  I used to hunt land in Connecticut  ...There were lots of deer and turkeys ... “Then around 2003 or 2004, the coyotes showed up. The last five years I had a license I never shot a turkey or a deer..,

Coyote predation on fawns may demand direct attack April 17, 2015 North Carolina, Penn Live
...  after spending a lot of time and money removing a lot of coyotes, did not measure a significant increase in fawn recruitment. Thus follows the advice: If fawn recruitment is falling, reducing doe harvest is easier, cheaper and possibly more effective than spring trapping."

If you find the remains of a dead fawn in the woods this summer, could you determine what kind of predator killed it? At the 2012 Southeast Deer Study Group meeting, QDMA talked to Colter Chitwood, a Ph.D. candidate at North Carolina State University. Colter is studying the effects of coyote and bobcat predation on fawn survival rates at Fort Bragg Military Installation. During his research, Colter has become skilled at reading the signs and determining whether a fawn was killed by predators or merely scavenged after dying of other causes. If predators killed the fawn, Colter can usually determine what kind of predator is guilty based on evidence at the scene.

Research

... We analysed the reactions of 636 coyotes to novel human artefacts (camera traps) at 575 sites across the state of North Carolina. Likelihood of a coyote approaching the camera increased with human housing density suggesting that urban coyotes are experiencing selection for boldness and becoming more attracted to human artifacts... We also note physical traits in coyotes that could be the result of domestication-related selection pressures, or dog hybridization...

... Our results indicated that coyote control can decrease mortality and increase survival of neonate mule deer in some situations. Removal of coyotes was most effective when removal efforts occurred for multiple consecutive years, and when control efforts occurred in or near fawning habitat...

...  Predation by coyotes was the primary cause of mortality (77.8%) of white-tailed deer fawns at our study site. Furthermore, white-tailed deer remains were found in most coyote scats (53.5%) but the presence of these remains were highest in scats collected in the summer (83.9% in 2017; 61.3% in 2018). The results of the fawn mortality analysis and scat analysis suggest that there are high incidents of coyote predation on white-tailed deer fawns but provide little evidence of predation on adult ...

... A new study of deer numbers across the eastern United States has found that the arrival and establishment of coyote predators has not caused the number of deer harvested by hunters to decline... Previous studies of how coyotes might be affecting deer populations have produced inconsistent results...

A video summary of the research paper: “No Region-Wide Effects on White-Tailed Deer Following Eastern Coyote Colonization”


Assessing factors affecting adult female white-tailed deer survival in the Northern Great Plains KL Moratz, BS Gullikson, ES Michel, JA Jenks… - Wildlife Research, 2019
... Predation was the main source of mortality for adult females in our study, with coyotes (Canis latrans) being the sole predator capable of depredation in our study area... almost 90% of mortalities occurring during the Post-hunt time period happened during late winter before spring green up...

White‐tailed deer population dynamics and adult female survival in the presence of a novel predator MC Chitwood, MA Lashley, JC Kilgo, CE Moorman… - The Journal of Wildlife …, 2015 North Carolina
... Recent localized declines in white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) populations in the southeastern United States have been linked to increasing predation pressure from coyotes (Canis latrans), a novel predator to the region. Studies have documented coyotes as the leading cause of mortality for neonates, and 1 study documented coyotes as a mortality factor for adult females... Our data indicate that for low-density deer populations with heavy predation pressure on neonates, protecting adult females from harvest may not completely offset population declines. Coyote removal might be a necessary strategy because it could possibly increase very low fawn survival, which appears to be the most important vital rate influencing λ in our study. However, managers may have to start with reductions in adult female harvest ...

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