When Time Is Right, Young Bucks Move On Sometimes A Long Way UNIVERSITY PARK (Centre Co.) When scientists from Penn State’s College of Agricul tural Sciences and the Pennsylva nia Game Commission began tracking young, male white-tailed deer last winter to leam how they disperse, the researchers weren’t sure what to expect. For years it was believed that deer in Pennsylvania don’t move around much. But wildlife ex perts knew that for genetic rea sons deer populations should minimize inbreeding, so it made sense that the males would leave the area where they were bom. Now, almost a year into the study, a fascinating picture of young buck dispersal is emerg ing. “Movement of young bucks is certainly not related to quality of habitat of a deer’s home range,” says Duane Diefenbach, adjunct assistant professor of wildlife re sources with the Pennsylvania Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, a joint effort of Penn State, the Game Commis sion, the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission and the U.S. Geologic Survey. “We see young bucks leaving natal home ranges with good habitat and traveling to other areas of good habitat. It’s almost like the doe gives them the message that it is time to go.” Researcher and graduate stu dent Eric Long has been in trigued by the dispersal paths of the young bucks he is tracking. One swam the Allegheny River and crossed several highways during his 15-mile journey. ONLY! $36.00 Year $65.00 years In PA, NJ. OH. MD,\ DE, NY, VA & WV 1 (Other Areas 547 00 Per Year or $B7 00 For Two Years) ES Call 717-626-1164 LANCASTER FARMING WILL SEND A GIFT CARD ANNOUNCING THE START OF THE GIFT SUBSCRIPTION “We have found that 40 per cent of male fawns bom the year before leave their mother the fol lowing spring at about the time she is ready to have a new litter of fawns,” Long says. “Then dur ing the rut in early fall, many of the rest leave. We don’t know whether the does somehow tell them they should leave, or if the young bucks get wanderlust from wanting to be involved in breed ing activity. Maybe both.” The joint, three-year study intended to be the most extensive radio-telemetry study of male deer dispersal, survival and the effects of antler restrictions for hunting ever attempted in the United States started last De cember when 141 male deer were captured in Armstrong and Centre counties. Those deer caught using helicopters, drop nets, walk-in traps and tranquil izer dart guns were radio-col lared and released unharmed. Researchers have been tracking their movements ever since. The two sites offer dramatical ly different landscapes, Long points out, and that probably ac counts for a difference in disper sal rates of young bucks. “At the Armstrong County site near Kit tanning, which is mostly rolling hills with patches of forest and open agricultural areas often di vided by roads, 44 percent of bucks that were collared left their mothers in the spring. On aver age they went about seven miles. “At the Centre County site, which is less fragmented and fea tures continuous forested ridges, 24 percent of young bucks dis- -.*•' WmitM^ persed in the spring,” says Long. “They didn’t move as far on av erage about five miles. The maximum dispersal distance we have seen in Centre County was 13 and a half miles.” Mortality of animals has been about what researchers expected. At the Armstrong County site, four were killed by vehicles on roads, two were killed by poach ers prior to hunting seasons and two were harvested during the first week of archery season. One of those was a 13-point buck one of the few older bucks in cluded in the study. At the Centre County site, just one deer in the study has been killed on highways, and so far, archers have killed no deer in the study area. According to Long, the Centre County site has a higher human population, but far fewer miles of road than the Armstrong County site. “There has been very little mortality and no predation of Time To Have Heaters Inspected As the weather turns colder throughout much of the country, the U.S. Consumer Product Safe ty Commission (CPSC) urges consumers to have a professional inspection of all fuel-burning heating systems including fur naces, boilers, fireplaces, water heaters and space heaters to detect potentially deadly carbon monoxide (CO) leaks. Under certain conditions, all appliances that burn fuels can leak deadly CO. These fuels in- P^ssssss* Christmas Shopping Doesn’t Get Any Easier Than This! Give The Gift That Comes Week After Week. A Subscription To I Clip And Mall This Coupon 1 With Your Check To: 1 Lancaster Farming I P.O. Box 609 J Ephrata, PA 17522 • Name: J Address: I City: I State: I Gift Card To Read From I G NEW study animals,” Diefenbach says. “Hunting is clearly the big factor in deer management. But we knew that.” Early information yielded by the research dispels some myths about Pennsylvania deer. Long notes. “From a management per spective, we know that we can’t manage deer in a small area,” he says. “There is a lot of inter change between animals and areas. Landowners should realize that there is a good chance that the bucks they see on their prop erty probably weren’t born there. There is a lot more interchange than people were expecting.” This information likely will be of great interest to hunters, Long speculates. “There have been suggestions that landowners could introduce big-racked bucks to pass on their genes to offspring males that will have bigger racks,” he says. “But we are see ing now that the young male deer probably won’t stay in the area. clude kerosene, oil, coal, both nat ural and liquefied petroleum gas, and wood. “Having a professional inspec tion of your fuel-burning heating appliances is the first line of de fense against the silent killer, car bon monoxide poisoning,” said CPSC Chairman Hal Stratton. CPSC recommends that the yearly professional inspection in clude checking chimneys, flues and vents for leakage and block age by debris. Birds, other ani- mals, and in Zip G RENEWAL 1 Lancaster Farming, Saturday, December 7, 2002-815 sects sometimes nest in vents and block ex haust gases, causing the gases to enter the home. In