 |
| Healthy Deer |
 |
| Malnourished Deer
These images are from a pair of coyote killed deer carcasses. In 1949 a short article was published in the New York Conservationist magazine by E. L. Cheatum. This article is the basis of all current studies of ungulate mortality analysis, however machines are now used instead of fingers to determine the fat content of marrow. Analysis of bone marrow fat gives an indication of the nutritional status of the animal since it is the last fat reservoir used by a starving animal.
The tracks in snow gave an intriguing story. The healthy deer was the adult which apparently was defending its weak fawn which is the lower image. The kills were made a few days apart since the fawn was almost intact and the doe was mostly consumed when I found them. An alternative explanation is a simultaneous kill and the adult was eaten first. The deer died in an open woodland and all bones were intact therefore not a wolf or bobcat kill.
Cheatum's article is an interesting study in field biology. I couldn't find the original article on the web but would be happy to send a PDF file of it to anyone who is interested.
|
No comments:
Post a Comment