Word on the street is that there are fewer acorns up north than down south and perhaps we might see differences in movements between our northern and southern study areas.
This is where sample size starts to become an issue. We do not have a lot of animals once you start dividing by sex and study area. But if there is a strong pattern in the data we should detect it.
First, I would predict that distance traveled by males would not differ among study areas based on food. All males have only one thing on their mind come November 1st. I’m sure they are nibbling here and there on acorns and vegetation, but mostly they are walking 24/7 in search of mates.
Second, females are putting on fat for winter. By the end of November most females should have a good inch of fat on their rump in preparation for winter. I would expect clear differences in movements between study areas if there were large differences in acorn abundance.
So let’s see what we have. First the males:
Red is north and blue is south. Two of 3 northern deer are moving more, and all southern deer are moving less. My conclusion is no pattern based on the sample size.
Now the females:
No pattern…
I don’t think we can conclude any differences in acorn availability between our northern and southern study areas are influencing deer movements.
Several of you have asked about movements during the day versus night. We’re working on it.
By the way, the Rut Tracker is updated through November 6!
-Duane Diefenbach
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