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Abstract Vigilance is an important and common behaviour displayed by ungulates, since it allows individuals of a herd to detect for predators. Female White-tailed deer with young are typically the most vigilant members of a herd in order to protect their offspring. The time devoted to scanning for predators (vigilance) while foraging was studied in White-tailed deer, Odocoileus viginianus, mothers and juveniles. Three-minute focal animal samples were conducted randomly thirty times in a herd consisting of nine mother deer and six juvenile deer. Results show that mother White-tailed deer were more vigilant on average than juvenile White-tailed deer. It is suggested that juvenile White-tailed deer are more susceptible to predation pressure. Consequently, mother White-tailed deer protect their young from predators by devoting more time to vigilance while foraging than juvenile White-tailed deer do. Introduction Vigilance is a common behaviour of ungulates because it increases the probability of predator detection (Hunter & Skinner 1998). Vigilance refers to scanning or watching for predators and can be measured as the time an animal is looking up rather than feeding or engaging in other activities (Burger & Gochfeld 1994). There are a wide variety of factors that influence vigilant behaviour in ungulates. Such factors include location, sex, age, and presence of young (Lagory 1986). Previous studies show that mature animals, males, and animals distant from the herd are typically the most vigilant herd members (Burger & Gochfeld, 1994). However, females with juveniles have found to be the most vigilant members of a herd (Hunter & Skinner 1998). In particular, White-tailed deer, Odocoileus viginianus, are ungulates widely dispersed throughout North America in groups, that tend to be the largest in open areas and display the highest rate of vigilance behaviour (Lagory 1986). This paper examines the vigilance behaviour of White-tailed deer mothers compared to White-tailed deer juveniles while foraging. While observing White-tailed deer foraging behaviour, it was apparent that mother deer tend to scan for predators for a longer period of time than juvenile deer. It is hypothesized that female White-tailed deer with juveniles will spend more time watching for predators than juvenile White-tailed deer. This is because female deer with juveniles must be more vigilant than their offspring in order to protect their offspring from predators. Furthermore, juveniles are exposed to greater levels of predation as a result of their small size, weakness, and naïveté (Hunter & Skinner 1998). As a result of juvenile susceptibility to predation, it is important for mothers to be maximally vigilant in order to carry on their genes through the survival of their offspring.
Approximate Word count = 1650
Approximate Pages = 6.6
(250 words per page double spaced)
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