fawn recruitment

[gatodoc]

Numbers of youngsters seems down on our Rhea co. lease this year. We were covered up in yotes last year. Did this make a difference or has there been any other "natural" causes for poor fawn crop?

[Deerbuster]

Not a biologist, but the fawn crop here in Obion county is way up. Only 1 picture of a yote all year and numerous pictures of fawns. But yotes can put a dent in the fawns from what I can tell. As soon as the coyote numbers start dropping off here. Fawns and a lot of other creatures started making a comeback(rabbits,foxes, and other small game).
Yotes would be my guess and I would start thinning them out.

[Diehard]

Not just coyotes! There have been a lot of bobcat sightings on the property as well! We have also had bears move in in the last year or two as well. Not just passing through, we have resident bears on the property now. Lots of predators means fewer fawns.

[BSK]

Bears are MAJOR predators of newborn fawns. Coyotes can be as well. Bobcats will take a few, but at least bobcat populations never get to the density coyote populations can. But as Deerbuster mentioned, coyote populations often boom and crash, due to density dependent disease outbreaks. While the coyote population is down, fawn survival often booms in those areas where coyotes had been having an impact.

All that said, the relationship between coyote populations and fawn survival is still unclear. Some studies have found a strong relationship between high coyote populations and low fawn survival. Others studies have not. I've watched properties in western Middle TN display fairly consistent coyote populations over the last 20 years, yet also display WILD swings in fawn survival rates. We went through an extended period of poor fawn survival in this area follow the 2007 EHD outbreak, and fawn survival is just now beginning to bounce back strongly. Yet coyote populations have been relatively stable throughout this period. They do not appear to be the cause of the low fawn recruitment post-EHD.