Mule deer can't avoid predator risk. And while it's natural to study how deer move in response to predator pressure... what would we learn if we collared predators and saw how they moved in response to prey abundance? Katey Huggler's research during her time at the Monteith Shop showed some interesting predator movement patterns around fawning. But when it comes to deer mortality, how much bite predators get of the pie depends on the year, and basically all the other ways mule deer can die. 

5:00 A childhood of hunting and trapping in northern Idaho was the perfect segue to a wildlife sciences degree from U of I

6:30 Switching systems from Wyoming mule deer to Idaho bighorn sheep

7:30 Deer and Elk Research Ecology Project - an effort to unravel the potentially competitive interactions between mule deer and elk

9:00 Trapping comes in handy when you're trying to understand coyote predation on mule deer fawns from the predator's side of the story

14:00 Predators... popular topic of discussion at the Wyoming State Legislature

15:00 Deer can't avoid predator risk

17:00 For mule deer, mitigating predation risk is all about terrain... and it's a risk that can't be eliminated. 

19:00 Here's an example: We know car accidents kill a lot of people, and yet we still drive around all the time to live/eat/work/play/etc. A mule deer's life is similar... they have to venture into cougar territory to make a living out there. Getting got is a risk that never goes away.

23:00 Sooo... kill all the predators, save all the mule deer for hunters? Hmm.

26:00 Trapping coyotes (and any canid, really) is hard. They're smart, savvy animals. Katy's study had 42 collared coyotes involved

30:00 Being a "mugger" on a heli crew

33:00 Yes, it can be hard on an individual animal to be trapped/handled/studied -- but the knowledge gleaned does so much to increase our understanding of the species as a whole

38:00 How it comes together: We have collared mule deer and collared coyotes... let's try to understand how coyotes are using their space in relation to female mule deer, and whether that changes during fawning

39:00 Coyotes more strongly selected for areas being used by female mule deer during the apex of fawning, and they exhibit complex movement patterns -- kind of like a searching behavior. Long story short: Coyotes totally change their behavior when a profitable food source (mule deer fawns) is available

41:00 But here's the thing... the coyote doesn't always win. Their take isn't excessive

47:00 Drought severely affected a number of study animals

51:00 Mule deer fawns... so much against them! And yet they persist

52:00 Hunters/trappers were the highest source of coyote mortality in the study's collared 'yotes... second biggest coyote-killer? Cougars

1:11 The joy(/utility) of finding coyote poop if you're trapping coyotes

1:12 "I am someone who takes coyote poop and puts it in a Lay's chip bag."