IDFG Continues Fawn Survivability Study, Volunteers Needed To Help Trap Deer

IDAHO FALLS - The holiday season is full of traditions and rituals; caroling with friends and Christmas Eve dinner at Grandma's house. IDFG has developed its own holiday-time traditions that revolve around wildlife. The fawn survivability study has become one of the annual early-winter traditions that not only help the Department to manage wildlife, but also get the public involved in hands-on activities. The Department is looking for volunteers to trap the last weekend of the year and then again later in early January. The fawn survivability study has been going on within the Southern Regions of the State for the last four years. The trapping phase of the project involves the use of a leased helicopter to "drive" does and fawns into nets strung across the hillsides. Once trapped, volunteers are used to "mug" the deer, helping to keep it immobilized while biologists work on the animals. Once blood samples have been drawn and radio collars attached, the animals are released unharmed. This winter the Upper Snake Region will once again trap 20 fawns as part of the study. The monitoring phase of the project takes over once trapping is complete and continues until spring green-up. The point of the project is to track the survivability of the fawns throughout the winter and monitor how, when, and why they die. Staffs, along with volunteers monitor radio signals on a daily basis from the deer and then track down any deer that begin to send out mortality signals from their radio collars. The collar is retrieved and the cause of death determined and plugged into the study data. The initial trapping efforts will be focused in the Heise area of Unit 67. January trapping will focus on Marsh Creek area of Unit 50. In both areas, volunteers are a key to success. According to Clay Hickey, wildlife technician responsible for the project, "We are really counting on volunteers to help us trap and locate the mortalities." While many volunteers are needed, Hickey cautions that the work requires volunteers to be in good physical condition and able to handle harsh winter conditions. Information from this study will be compared to results from other portions of the state and will help wildlife managers monitor fawn overwinter survival on a year to year scale. Anyone interested in assisting as a volunteer should contact Clay Hickey at 525-7290.