Ecology and management of white-tailed deer in - Florida Fish and ...

females during gestation and lactation, resulting in reduced productivity and fawn survival.
In addition, trace elements Selenium and Iodine, which are typically at low levels in sandy
soils, have also been correlated with low reproduction (MacPherson 2000). Florida’s deer
forage is also low in Cobalt (Kretschmer et al. 1954), which is known to negatively affect
reproductive performance (Smith et al. 1956).
MORTALITY
The primary cause of adult deer mortality in Florida is hunting; approximately
120,000 deer are harvested annually. Other mortality factors include predation, disease,
parasites, vehicle collisions, malnutrition, poaching, and adverse weather (e.g., flooding).
Fawns on average have higher mortality rates than adults. Knowledge of the common
mortality factors in your area, and understanding the effects on the deer herd, can help you
refine your management strategies.
Hunting
Where data is available, legal hunting is estimated to account for a 10-15%
reduction of a deer herd in hunted populations. In addition, mortality from unretrieved
harvest (i.e., wounding loss) and illegal hunting can be considerable. Estimates of illegal
kills are unknown, but may be as high as 50% of legal harvest (Eberhardt 1960), and
wounding loss can vary from “negligible” to as much as 175% of legal harvest (Nettles et
al. 1977). The amount of wounding loss depends upon a variety of factors including the
type of weapon used.
Predation
In much of the southeast, viable populations
of large predators no longer exist. The endangered
Florida panther (Felis concolor coryi) occurs only
in south Florida, and therefore is generally not an
issue for deer management in most of the state.
However, panther predation can be a significant
factor affecting deer populations where panthers
occur. On average, panthers eat one deer (or
other similar sized animal such as a hog) every
nine days.
Bobcats (Felis rufus) also cause mortality in south
Florida deer populations; in Big Cypress National Preserve,
bobcats accounted for 10 of 22 radio-collared adult doe
mortalities (Land et al. 1993). Another Everglades study
utilizing radio-collars, found that bobcat predation
accounted for at least 60% of 52 fawn deaths (Boylay
1992), and at least 17% of 36 adult deaths (Labisky et al.,
9
Florida panther. Photo by David Shindle.
Bobcats do not appear to be a major
predator on deer in much of Florida.
Photo by David Shindle.