Several different factors affect when and where animals are most active, including the weather, possibly lunar factors, the breeding season, human intervention (which will be minimal on this location), hunting pressure and predatory behavior among them. An understanding of the hours when game animals are most active, is of interest to biologists, game managers, animal behaviorists, nature lovers and hunters. This study will examine the hourly sightings of several species of game animals, primarily White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus), American Black Bear (Ursus americanus) and Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo), at eight different feeder locations on a 3000 acre wildlife preserve in tehOzark Mountain of Arkansas, to determine the peak daily activity times of each species. One of these feeders is within an enclosure of white-tailed deer, but the sightings and activity times of animals in this enclosure will not be included in the findings, results and conclusion of this study.

The activity times of the deer in the enclosure will be noted however, to determine whether or not the activity of penned deer can be use as an indicator of the activities of free-ranging, wild deer. Particular notice will be given to activity times of the free-ranging animals in regards to meteorological conditions and lunar factors, especially as the seasons change from summer to winter, to fall and back to winter; and in regards to the various stages (or phases) of the breeding seasons of those animals.

This study, by animal behaviorist and researcher T.R. Michels, in conjunction with the USseeWidlife.com website, is conducted on a 3000 acre game preserve in the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas, using streaming live video from eight cameras with night vision and audio capability. Hunting is not allowed on the preserve, and human intrusion is kept to a minimum. The elevation of the preserve runs from 358 feet to 1225 feet, with the highest camera location at 800 feet. The animals can be watched, and listened to, 24 hours per day, 7 days per week. The study will continue through December 31 of 2009, and with appropriate funding, will continue through December 31, 2012.

Observations from the cameras will be held for approximately 15 minutes every one to two hours, 24 hours per day, 7 days per week. The study will take into account the meteorological conditions of the day; including temperature, humidity, dew point, heat index, wind chill, Barometric pressure, sunrise, sunset, and morning and evening twilight; and several lunar factors; including the phase of the moon, moon rise and set, the overhead and underfoot position of the moon, and the lunar perigee/apogee cycle. Differences in the activities of 3+year old bears and younger bears; and white-tailed deer does, 3+ year old bucks and younger bucks will be noted. The information gathered as a result of this study should prove to be informative and useful to hunters, wildlife biologists, wildlife managers, and animal enthusiasts alike.

Some of the questions that we hope to have answers for, as a result of this study, include:

1. What timeframe (in relation to sunrise) do deer, bears and turkey begin to leave feeding areas and head back to their daytime core areas. Since different deer may be feeding in different areas, some farther away from their core areas than others, it might be difficult to determine when they will arrive back at their core areas / resting sites, because (unless they have a way of knowing how long it will take them to get back) the distance they have to travel will affect when they arrive. Studies have shown that deer travel more miles in an hour in the morning than they do in the evening, because they may be a long way from their core area and often hurry to get back to their core areas before it gets too light out.

2 What timeframe (in relation to sunset) do deer get up to go to nighttime food sources. Studies have shown that deer travel fewer miles per hour in the late afternoon/early evening hours, than in the morning, because it is getting darker, and there is no need for the animals to hurry. During peak movement times between 7 and 8 PM they may travel up to .3 of a mile per hour.

3. What timeframe (in relation to sunset) do deer begin to leave nighttime food sources, and what time they generally get back to their daytime core areas. Studies have shown that deer travel more miles per hour in the morning than in the evening, because it is getting lighter and they want to get back to the security of their (often heavily wooded) core areas. During peak movement time at 8 AM they may travel up to .4 of a mile per hour.

4. How the changes in meteorological conditions will affect when and where deer, bears and turkey are most active throughout the day.

5. Whether or not peaks in hourly deer, bear or turkey activity are correlated with the overhead / underfoot position of the moon, which would suggest that they are affected by the gravitational pull of the moon; and whether or not any of the popular game activity tables accurately predict when peaks in deer activity occur.

6. Whether or not peaks in monthly deer, bear or turkey activity are correlated with either the 29.5 day lunar phase cycle, or the 27.5 day perigee/apogee cycle of the moon; and whether a coincidence of those two cycles during the same week results in higher peaks in activity than either cycle alone.

7. How the behavior of male and female deer, bears and turkey change as the phase of their respective breeding seasons change. And whether or not the behavior of different age classes of the animals affect when they are most active during those phases.

8. Whether or not the beginning, peak or ending of scraping and rubbing of deer, and gobbling activity of turkeys - is correlated with the photoperiod of the sun; the available amount of lunar light, the gravitational pull or electromagnetics associated with the moon; or if those factors affect the timing or intensity of rubbing, scraping or breeding activity of white-tailed deer, and gobbling activity of turkeys.

The space to the right of the numbers indicates the total numbers of animals seen from 7/11/09 to 7/17/09. The cluster of animal sightings at the numbers 6-13 corresponds to morning and midday feeding times. The lack of sightings (other than raccoons) between 22 and 3, is when many animals were probably resting, but when they may get up to stretch, defecate, urinate, and eat, without moving far from their nighttime resting/bedding areas, thus they are unlikely to show up at feeders - if the feeders are too far away from their resting/bedding sites. During these days, temperatures were regularly in the 90 degree Fahrenheit range, and there were some storms.

Crepuscular (dawn and dusk) animals, like white-tailed deer, are most active within a few h ours of sunrise and sunset. They get up in the evening, feed for a couple of hours, rest most of the night, and get up again before sunrise, when they eat again for a couple of hours before returning to their daytime core areas, where they rest or sleep, and spend most of the day. As can be seen by this graph, deer often begin moving several hours before sunset, and eat for a few hours. Then, because they are ruminants, they often lie down in or near a nighttime food source, regurgitate the cud from the first of their four stomachs, and chew their food again. They may get up around midnight to stretch, urinate, defecate and eat, but they seldom move very far before lying down again. Then they get up a few ours before sunrise, eat for a few hours, and then travel back to their daytime core areas, where they again regurgitate their cud, chew it and rest or sleep for most of the day. As can be seen by the graph they often getup around moon, to stretch, urinate, defecate and eat, and they may move travel a short distance to find food, generally in or near their daytime core areas..

Diurnal (daytime) animals, like Black Bears, Squirrels and Wild Turkeys get up in the morning, feed throughout the day, and generally sleep at night. They may rest for awhile at midday. However, when they are disturbed by human activity or hunting pressure, bears will often move later at night, to avoid humans.

Nocturnal (nighttime) animals, like Raccoons, sleep most of the day, get up in the evening, feed most of the night and go back to sleep in the morning.

The health and security of the animals (staying warm and dry in, cold, wet weather - or staying cool and hydrated, in hot, dry weather; and how well they can see, hear and smell) is affected by how hot or cold it is, how much light there is, the type and amount of precipitation, and the direction and speed of the wind. The meteorological factors that affect the health and security of the animals, or by which "we humans" measure meteorological conditions, include temperature, humidity, dew point, heat index, wind chill, and Barometric pressure.

The amount of light available from the sun changes as dawn progresses into midday, and as midday progresses into dusk. Although the interval between sunrise and noon, and sunset and midnight, is not on a 6 hour interval (because the number of light-hours per day (photoperiod) changes throughout the year) it appears that animals are still able to determine the approximate point of the day when noon and midnight occurs. The ability to determine when noon and midnight occur, is due to what is referred to as "circadian rhythm", and the "circadian clock" - which is associated with the hypothalamus of the brain. The intensity of the light from the sun throughout the day affects the hourly activity of the animals.

Since it has been shown that particular bird species, and in fact, particular birds, have been found to frequent bird feeders at the same time each day, it would be interesting to see if particular bird species arrive at the feeders here, at semi-specific times of the day.

It is expected that the activity times of deer, bears and turkey (in particular) will change as the seasons progress, forage availability changes, aerial and ground cover changes, temperature factors change, and breeding seasons begin, progress and end. Because this is a preserve, hunting seasons may not affect resident animals, but as hunting pressure increases, in areas surrounding the preserve, there may be an influx of non-resident deer, bears and turkey, which may increase competition for mates and forage.

Since animals do not determine the time of day - by the use of a watch, but by the amount of light available - and because the number of light hours per day changes throughout the year, in order to accurately portray and predict the times of day that animals are most active, we need to relate their activity times to either morning and evening twilight, or sunrise and sunset - and state how many hours and minutes from those times that the activity occurred. For the purposes of this study we will use time-frames related to sunrise and sunset.

Many game animal are security conscious, with the result that they often move at times, and in places, where either the light conditions are such that they can still see, but feel secure due to limited ability to see very far (due to the lack of light); or where the terrain and habitat are such that they cannot see very far. This security consciousness often determines the hours of the day when the animals are most active.

Since light affects when and where animals are active, it stands to reason that the light of the moon may influence the activity times of animals. The amount of light available from the moon changes as the phases of the moon progress during the 29.5 day lunar phase cycle. The amount of light available from the moon is also affected by the presence of clouds, fog and heavy precipitation. Lunar light may affect the hourly and monthly activity of animals.

It has been hypothesized that the gravitational pull of the moon, during the 29.5 day lunar phase cycle affects the activity of animals. The gravitational pull of the moon may affect the hourly activity of animals.

It has also been hypothesized that the electromagnetics associated with the sun, the moon and the earth, during the 27.5 day perigee/apogee lunar cycle may affect the activity of animals. The electromagnetics of the moon may affect the monthly activity of the animals.

The Solunar Table, which uses the overhead and underfoot position of the moon to determine peak activity times of game and fish, predicted peak activity between 3:00 PM and 6:00 PM for these days. The graph indicates that game activity was actually lowest during the times predicted by the Solunar Table (for this week) .

During the first two weeks of the study in August of 2009, the mammals seen included armadillo (1), cottontail rabbit, coyote (1), gray fox, gray squirrel, fox squirrel, opossum, raccoon, black bear and white-tailed deer. Wild turkeys and wood ducks were the two most prominent game birds, but American Coot, Mallard and Canada Geese were noted. Several species of songbird were seen or heard, including Northern Cardinal, Indigo Bunting, Blue Grosbeak, Pileated woodpecker, White-breasted Nuthatch, Red-eyed and Warbling Vireo, American Crow, Blue Jay and others.

Early in the study we found that, contrary to conventional wisdom, which is that bears are not active in high temperatures, the bears in this study were regularly seen between 9:00 AM and 9:00 PM, including the hottest parts of the day, when temperature exceeded 90 degrees Fahrenheit and the heat index exceeded 100 degrees. It must be noted that the bears did not yet have their winter coats on, which might affect the temperature ranges they feel comfortable in during the fall.

It was noted that the 1 year old and older bears regularly stayed at the feeders for over 1/2 hour; and that one large male bear stayed for 2 hours and 20 minutes.