The University of Washington is conducting a 

 detailed study of the food habits of this deer, 

 including food availability and plant community 

 characteristics on the refuge. 



SHELTER REQUIREMENTS 



Resting deer seek cover in woodlands or 

 brushy areas adjacent to feeding pastures (Suring 

 1974). The physiognomy of cover seems more 

 important than the particular species composi- 

 tion. 



NESTING OR BEDDING 



Scheffer (1940) reports that these deer are 

 seen to emerge from v^^illow thickets about day- 

 break to begin feeding activities. They are also 

 reported to bed down in mint or hay fields 

 (Scheffer 1940). Fawns are sometimes discovered 

 resting in high grass of unmowed pastures in mid- 

 summer (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1977). 



RITUAL REQUIREMENTS 



A relatively solitary animal, the average group 

 size is two to three individuals (Suring 1974). 

 The largest aggregations seen by Suring (1974) 

 occurred in winter and usually did not exceed 10 

 animals. Intraspecific interactions are relatively 

 infrequent in this deer, and then they are of low 

 intensity (only 17% of all male-male conflicts 

 result in physical contact, as opposed to 42% in 

 Michigan whitetails) (Suring 1974). Most of the 

 high-intensity threat actions observed were during 

 the rut. 



OTHER CRITICAL ENVIRONMENTAL 

 REQUIREMENTS 



Juxtaposition of grazing and cover areas 

 seems to be critical for this deer. Large expanses 

 of grazing land, providing ample forage, are 

 unused unless there is cover nearby. Tenasillahee 

 Island supports a low density of whitetails, pri- 

 marily because the available cover is concentrated 

 around the perimeter of the island (Gavin in 

 press). Diking of Columbia River islands is essen- 

 tial to prevent mass mortality, especially to 

 fawns, during high water (Scheffer 1940, Gavin 

 1978) and to provide grazing habitat. 



POPULATION NUMBERS AND TRENDS 



The entire lower Columbia River population 

 was estimated to number 300 to 400 individuals, 

 with the refuge population exhibiting a very 

 stable trend from 1972 to 1977 (Gavin 1979). 

 The refuge mainland population ranged from a 

 total of 164 to 215 deer during those years, or 

 3.67 to 4.82 deer per ha (Gavin 1979). Densities 

 on adjacent islands, both refuge-owned and pri- 

 vate, were much lower (e.g., about 1 deer per 100 

 ha on Puget Island, a private island). The sex 

 ratio of yearling and adult deer on the refuge was 

 quite stable from 1972 to 1977 at about three fe- 

 males per male (Suring 1974, Gavin 1979). Mean 

 home range size was 103.6 ha (N=18) and 108.6 

 ha (N=7) for adult females and adult males, re- 

 spectively (Gavin 1979). 



All sources agreed that this population has 

 probably been at carrying capacity for some time. 

 Stability of population size has been enforced by 

 low fawn recruitment and moderate adult mortal- 

 ity. Fawn mortality is very high (69% to 80%) 

 during the summer, and adult mortality is often 

 associated with bacterial infections and parasites 

 (Gavin 1979). 



Population density varies greatly among parts 

 of the refuge, with some refuge islands notably 

 underpopulated (e.g., Tenasillahee Island). Small 

 populations of whitetails are in danger of extinc- 

 tion by chance catastrophic events, such as 

 flooding of the Columbia River. Little informa- 

 tion is available for the Roseburg herd, since most 

 of the habitat is on private land and research was 

 only recently begun on these deer. Rough esti- 

 mates indicated there might be 1,900 whitetails 

 in Douglas County (Gavin in press). There is no 

 indication that recent hunting has been detrimen- 

 tal to the deer. On the other hand, sheep ranchers' 

 clearing of brushy cover used by deer is contin- 

 uing at a high rate, and this could be very dam- 

 aging. 



REPRODUCTION 



Rutting begins during the first week of No- 

 vember and reaches its peak later in the month 

 (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1977). Circum- 

 stantial evidence indicates that some deer are re- 

 productively active through March (U.S. Fish and 

 Wildlife Service 1977). No specific information is 



