UGA Deer Lab studies in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and Louisiana have focused on survival of fawns. During their first months of life, fawns are vulnerable to abandonment, predation, and other sources of mortality. We often capture pregnant does and equip them with a telemetry transmitter, which is expelled when she gives birth. This tool allows us to locate and capture her fawn (s). We then fit them with telemetry collars and monitor their daily survival. When mortality occurs, we use field evidence and forensic testing to determine the cause of death. In addition, we've researched new techniques for estimating fawn recruitment (i.e., the percentage of fawns that survive their first year).
