Wildlife Activity Research Updates

[T.R. Michels]

In our second year of the Wildlife Activity Research Project (WARP) in Arkansas the whitetail bucks in both Minnesota and Arkansas have antlers about 7/8 grown. We started seeing fawns with does while they were feeding during the second week of August.

It appears there is not much difference in when the rut will begin between Northern and upper Southern deer populations. The question remains - will the rut phases occur at about the same time, or will they start slightly later, and last longer, in the south, due to longer spring, summer and fall type weather - especially since it is the availablility of forage in the spring, and temperatures warm enough then, not to endanger fawn survival - that ultimately determines the timing of breeding dates.

The black bears are entering the Hypherphagia Phase (when they begin to eat up to 20 hours per day). Since they are already active throughout much of the day, the only way they can become more active is by using some of the hours after dark, resulting in bears becoming more nocturnal during the Hyperphagia Phase. Because there is no hunting season in progress during August in Arkansas, it suggests hunting is not the reason why the bears there begin to become nocturnal. And since high temperatures do not appear to affect daytime bear activity, temperature does not appear to be a factor in increasing nocturnal behavior of bears during the fall.

God bless,

T.R.