Glimpses of migration #4 || Can you spot the two deer with GPS tracking collars?

GLIMPSES OF MIGRATION #4 — CAN YOU SPOT THE TWO DEER WITH GPS COLLARS?
Have you ever seen a deer that seems materialize out of thin air, like the one in the background at :11 seconds? This shows how easy it is for deer to hide in a small ravine or behind a sagebrush. Luckily, today’s biologists have excellent gear to keep track of these wily animals. Case in point is the GPS collar on Deer #17, which you can see at 1:20. This small tracking device — and satellite networks orbiting around the Earth — help biologists better understand deer migration corridors for management and conservation.

(Just for fun, tell us if you can spot the second deer wearing a GPS collar. Hint: It’s a doe that gets a kiss from what looks to be her yearling fawn.)

This clip from early November shows that migration season has picked up. We count approximately 18 deer, including 11 does, two bucks, and five juveniles. Normally we’d expect to see a few more fawns — one or two per doe. All of these animals are moving from their mountain summer ranges to their desert winter ranges. About 4,000 – 5,000 deer use this corridor.

Most of the deer seem to quickly move through this wildlife-friendly fence installed by a private landowner for livestock grazing purposes. Notice how the top wire at 42 inches allows the bucks to jump over, and the bottom smooth wire at 18 inches makes it easier for does and fawns to scoot under. Fences like this show how private land ranching is compatible with maintaining mule deer movement.

Ranchers have been stewarding this deer herd for generations, long before researchrs used GPS to map the full 150-mile deer corridor from the Hoback to the Red Desert. Livestock producers continue to help this deer herd by maintaining open spaces, opening gates during migration season, and retrofitting fencing.

#stewardship
#thankarancher
#knowyourcorridors
#deer
#ibrakeformigration

About the clip: UW student researcher Tanner Warder caught this clip in Sublette County, Wyoming in November 2020 as mule deer headed south from the Hoback Basin and the Upper Green River Valley to the Red Desert. Funding for this clip comes from the Muley Fanatic Foundation, Wyoming Research Scholars Program, and Kauffman Lab of the Wyoming Coop Unit.

If you would like permission to use this clip, just send us an email.