Journal
JOURNAL OF MAMMALOGY
Volume 96, Issue 2, Pages 279-286Publisher
OXFORD UNIV PRESS INC
DOI: 10.1093/jmammal/gyv004
Keywords
breeding season; GPS radiocollar; mate search strategy; movement; Odocoileus virginianus; periodicity; rut; white-tailed deer
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Funding
- Texas Parks and Wildlife Department
- Quality Deer Management Association
- Samuel Noble Roberts Foundation
- National Fish and Wildlife Foundation
- King Ranch Inc.
- CKWRI
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In species where defense of females or resources attractive to females is not an option, males search for mates. How males locate mates is not well understood. Male white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) are assumed to search widely for females in estrus; but the rut (2-4 weeks) and estrus (1-2 days) are short and males would benefit by having a strategy to locate mates. Because females typically have small home-range sizes and exhibit site fidelity, we predicted males would spend time in small focal areas containing females during rut. We fitted 102 males with GPS collars across 5 breeding seasons in South Texas. During rut, movement rates increased but most males used a small portion (26-34%) of their home ranges. Most males had 2 small focal areas (18-33 ha) which were revisited every 20-28 h. Because estrus is similar to 24 h, males may revisit focal areas to assess female receptiveness. During peak rut, 1 year olds had the lowest movement rates and rates were similar in 2- and >= 3-year-old males. However, most 2 year-old males exhibited Levy walks, an efficient search strategy when resources are rare. One-year- old males may not have exerted high effort, whereas most 2 year olds used a different strategy because of competition or lack of experience. Our results provide the first fine-scale description of ungulate mate-searching behavior and how spatial memory may be important for acquiring mating opportunities in species that rove for mates.
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