ANTIETAM NATIONAL BATTLEFIELD WHITE-TAILED DEER (ODOCOILEUS VIRGINIANUS) SEX RATIO AND POPULATION DENSITY DETERMINATIONS FOR MANAGEMENT RECOMMENDATIONS

Abstract

Antietam National Battlefield has experienced an increase in white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) populations from 2001 to 2010. The population currently exceeds the carrying capacity for Antietam, resulting in loss of biodiversity for plants, financial loss for agriculture, increased potential of chronic wasting disease transmission and elevated insurance claims from deer related automobile accidents posing a threat to visitor safety. To propose management recommendations, buck to doe sex ratios and population densities were determined during a spotlight deer survey conducted in fall 2010 and compared with data from nine previous years. In fall 2010, the deer population density was 49.8 deer/km2 with a doe to buck sex ratio of 4.7 to 1. The Maryland Department of Natural Resources recommends a deer population of eight deer/km2 in a forested ecosystem. Management recommendations based on an unhealthy sex ratio of increased does to bucks include culling the herd by targeting antler-less deer; specifically does. The reduction should reduce the herd to the recommended eight deer/km2 helping to stabilize the herd with a sex ratio of two does to one buck.