OCR Text |
Show WILDLIFE REPORT UTAH STATE DIVISION OF WILDLIFE RESOURCES study was conducted to answer ans-wer two questions: Can dea4. deer be located in winter time and can the cause of death be verified? The answer ans-wer to both, he says, is yes. But he quickly points out that more detailed study over a wider area is required to really answer the question of just how significant winter coyote predation Is on deer herd populations in Utah. SINGLE COYOTES DO KILL DEER USU STUDY NOTES Coyote predation on deer herds is a significant factor affecting herd population. A study by Dr. Darwin B.Nielsen B.Niel-sen from Utah State University Univer-sity of one deer wintering area in Cache County has convinced him of that fact. During the period Decern -ber 7 to March 15, 1975, he made 11 trips to the deer wintering area just south and east of the Hardware Ranch, most of it by snowmobile. Magpies and bald eagles concentrated con-centrated at a particular spot proved to be the most ef-. fective means of finding the deer remains. He located and investigated 31 dead deer, taking photos of each and checking for tracks, blood, hair and coyote droppings. He also skinned the head and neck area to observe fang holes in the hide and note evidence of tissue damage and bleeding in the neck area. Nielsen determined that all but three of the deer he investigated were killed by COUGAR OPENER SATURDAY Utah's 1975 cougar season sea-son opens November 1 with a stable population and a big success prediction for cat hunters. The season is open through April 15, 1976. This year's hunt will be held under the same basic regulations as in previous . years. The only major exceptions ex-ceptions are the closure of the Northern Region and the Henry Mountains. Division of Wildlife Resources Re-sources Big Game Supervisor Super-visor Rodney John explained the closures: "The Northern Region will be closed due to low populations of mountain lion. The Henry Mountains are being temporarily shut down to cougar hunting because be-cause Division plans now call for a study on the lion population pop-ulation in that area." The study will determine the number of animals in the Henry range and the impact of the cat population on the deer herds. As many animals as possible pos-sible will be captured and tagged; weight, overall length and age recorded on each. Some of the cats will be fitted with radio transmitters trans-mitters to determine the size and location of their home ranges. Hunters interested in the cougar hunt are urged to pick up a hunting proclamation from any Wildlife Resources office for exact definitions of open areas. Resident permits per-mits cost $15 in addition to the small game license, while nonresident permits are $150 in addition to the small game license. Can Be Nonconsumptive Sport: Some Utah sportsmen keep dogs year-round for the sole purpose of tracking the big cats. Many of them purchase a $10 "Pursuit Permit" which allows them to track cougars with their dogs. Once the lion in treed, the dogs are called off and the party moves on, looking for another animal without attempting at-tempting to make a kill. coyotes. Twenty-five of the coyote-killed deer were last year's fawns. From fresh kills he observed ob-served that the coyote usually usual-ly only eats a small portion of each deer it kills. It chews through the rib cage and eats the heart, liver and other viscera in the body cavity. Then the birds quickly consume con-sume the muscle tissue and other edible body parts. He said, "My observations during the study indicated that nearly all kills were made by single coyotes, not a pack of coyotes as I had supposed. In most cases there was little or no sign of a chase, less than ten yards, not a long chase through crusted snow. Contrary Con-trary to a general belief, severe winter and starved physical condition were not major factors in the coyote's ability to take deer since the winter up to March was not severe. The first coyote-killed coyote-killed deer found were in snow depth of about seven inches and the deer just entering the winter period were in good physical condition. condi-tion. Some carcasses bearing bear-ing the telltale throat fang marks were found in relatively rela-tively deep snow and some out on open ridges where the snow was all melted." Nielsen explained that the |