Pennsylvania Game News - September 2015 - 27

The quest to learn more about how fawns
and predators interact continues.

A

STEADY RAIN fell as
biologists Chris Rosenberry
and Bret Wallingford searched
a Mifflin County hayfield for participants
for the Game Commission's ongoing
fawn mortality study.
The day had been a slow one: seven
hours of searching produced two
glimpses of fawns. Neither was captured.
Then Wallingford spotted a fawn, about
10 yards from the woods' edge, tucked
under some drooping stocks. The
landowner had told them to try the field
on an earlier visit. He said he always
chased fawns from there when he was
cutting hay.
The fawn was aware of the biologists
as they closed in. It remained rock still in
the "hider defense" - to lay motionless -
even as hay was pushed aside to access
the young deer.
The fawn began to struggle as
Rosenberry picked it up and brought it
tight to his body. But it didn't make a
sound.
He held it firmly to keep a solid grip
on its slippery, wet body, and to limit the
potential for injury.
The leggy 10-pound or so fawn
became more vocal as it was carried to
the field edge, where it was fitted with
a transmitter collar, received two ear
tags, the punch holes for which were
used as DNA samples. Then its sex
was determined - a female - and it
was weighed. Shortly thereafter, it was
released.
But not before its mom came calling.
Mom wasn't thrilled about the
intrusion. She sneaked to within 20 yards
in the woods bordering the hayfield,
and started blowing and stomping
SEPTEMBER 2015	

wildly at the biologists. After drawing
our attention, the doe relented, but she
remained vigilant - and visibly upset - at
a more comfortable distance.
The fawn left in the direction of where
the doe had made her stand. She also is
still a participant in the study, too.

Snapshot

In total, 42 fawns were captured in the
continuing fieldwork; 24 in the northern
study area on the Susquehannock State
Forest, and 18 in the southern study area
on the Bald Eagle and Rothrock state
forests.
"Fawns let us know the capture
season is over when they outrun us every
time we find and chase one," Rosenberry
explained. "Our last fawn was captured
on June 15."
Although the deer biologists were
hoping for a larger sample of fawns,
Rosenberry said the team was satisfied
with its take of 42.
"We'd have liked to have captured
more fawns, but it didn't work out that
way," he said. "Still, our capture crews
did well on the often rugged landscapes
they searched for fawns."
As of June 26, there were 28 fawns
still being followed with telemetry gear.
Some had already slipped their collars.
Fawn transmitters are checked daily to
ensure activity. If the fawn doesn't move,
it is tracked down with a telemetry signal
receiver to verify its wellbeing.
Mortalities have ranged from fawns
displaying no outward injuries to those
in which the carcass was consumed.
Necropsies - animal autopsies - will be
conducted on fawn remains to sort out
cause of death.
27
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Pennsylvania Game News - September 2015
