SELECTION OF MULE DEER BY MOUNTAIN LIONS AND COYOTES: EFFECTS OF HUNTING STYLE, BODY SIZE, AND REPRODUCTIVE STATUS

By B. Pierce, V. Bleich, R. Terry Bowyer. 2000

92 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Abstract Predation on mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) by mountain lions (Puma concolor) and coyotes (Canis latrans) was examined to test effects of hunting style and body size, and for mountain lions reproductive status, on selection of prey. Mountain lions, which hunt by stalking, selected ≤1-year-old mule deer as prey. Body condition of mule deer did not affect prey selection by coyotes or mountain lions, and both predators preyed upon females and older adult deer more often than expected based on the percentage of these groups in the population. Female mountain lions selected female deer, but male mountain lions did not. Female mountain lions without offspring, however, did not differ from male mountain lions in prey selection. Coyotes did not select for young deer. Female mountain lions with kittens were selective for young deer in late summer.

Subfields: Ecology, Genetics

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/a0c7bfb92de20ebb132d3c64168c3b53302180cc

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In Ecology

1. R. Terry Bowyer
2. J. Kie
3. Terry Bowyer
4. K. Monteith
5. B. Pierce
6. V. Bleich
7. Kyle Knopff
8. M. Boyce

In Genetics

1. J. Kie
2. R. Terry Bowyer
3. Terry Bowyer
4. M. Festa‐Bianchet
5. M. Boyce
6. K. Monteith
7. T. Stephenson
8. N. Dingemanse

Citations in the corpus

• Life-History Characteristics of Mule Deer: Effects of Nutrition in a Variable Environment (2014, background): “This population of mule deer has been subjected to a highly variable climate and receives predation pressure from a suite of large carnivores (Kucera 1988; Pierce et al. 2000, 2004).”
• Predator-induced natural selection on temperament in bighorn ewes (2003, background): “Senescence may also increase the risk of being killed by a cougar if older females lack stamina (Pierce et al. 2000).”
• HABITAT SELECTION BY MULE DEER: FORAGE BENEFITS OR RISK OF PREDATION? (2004, background): “Mountain lions are noctur- nal and hunt and feed primarily at night (Beier et al. 1995; Pierce et al. 1998, 2000a).”
• Cougar kill rate and prey composition in a multiprey system. (2010, background): “Finally, whether cougars are selective predators preferring vulnerable prey (as suggested by Pierce et al. 2000), or random predators that kill prey as available within normal prey size limits (as suggested by Husseman et al. 2003) has ecological consequences (e.g., Wilmers et al. 2007).”
• SEXUAL SEGREGATION IN RUMINANTS: DEFINITIONS, HYPOTHESES, AND IMPLICATIONS FOR CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT (2004, background): “For instance, differences between sexes invoked in explaining the sexual dimorphism–body size hypothesis also relate to susceptibility of sexes to predation (Pierce et al. 2000a, 2000b), which is encompassed under the reproductive strategy hypothesis.”
• VIGILANCE, PREDATION RISK, AND THE ALLEE EFFECT IN DESERT BIGHORN SHEEP (2004, background): “For example, Pierce et al. (2000) found that female mountain lions rearing kittens selected female and young mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) as prey, probably due to the constraints of lactation, whereas solitary male and female mountain lions killed deer in proportion to their availability.”
• Timing of seasonal migration in mule deer: effects of climate, plant phenology, and life‐history characteristics (2011, background): “1), while some remain on the east side (Kucera 1992, Pierce et al. 2000).”