102 

 take substantial numbers of gravid, lactating, or brooding females, but until further studies are 

 conducted the impact of this hunting on game populations cannot be assessed. 



Distribution of take by month . Seasonality data, when combined with information about the 

 age and sex composition of harvested game can be used to determine whether different age or 

 reproductive classes of game are more susceptible to hunting at certain seasons (Redford and Robinson, 

 1990). Harvest of game animals varied during the year following a regular pattern that was recognized 

 by hunters at X-Hazil Sur. According to hunters, each species had a time during the year when it was 

 more likely to be taken. The factors that influenced the timing of this period were different for each 

 species, but according to hunters included: season (dry vs. wet), garden cycle, mating period, fruit and 

 seed availabihty in the forest, and activities by people (e.g., chicle tapping, selective logging, and 

 clearing new garden sites). 



For mammals, the harvest of brocket and white-tailed deer occurred primarily in areas 

 categorized as Plots & Gardens and took place during the early wet season (June-July), just after crop 

 seeds planted in the garden began to sprout. Deer also were taken during September-October. 

 According to hunters, this was the rutting season and deer were less vigilant than normal. Coatis were 

 harvested during the late wet season and early dry season. Beginning in September, during the late wet 

 season, coatis were taken by hunters as they entered gardens to feed on com, and beginning in January, 

 during the early dry season, they were harvested as they entered areas being cleared as new gardens. 

 The harvest of pacas and agoutis also took place during the dry season and was associated with the 

 harvest of com and clearing new gardens. Hunters often took coatis, agoutis, and pacas while logging 

 or tapping sapodilla trees. Pocket gopher harvest took place during both seasons as hunters worked in 

 their gardens. The harvest of collared peccaries was atypical of game mammals in that take occurred 

 throughout the year. 



Gravid female mammals were taken throughout the year. The monthly distribution of 

 pregnancies suggested that game mammals had two reproductive patterns (Figure 3-5). In the first 

 group, species reproduced throughout the year. This group was composed of the agouti, paca, and 



