A joint cooperative project of USeeWidlife.com and T.R. Michels

Anyone interested in funding this study, in exchange for recognition of their sponsorship, should contact T.R. Michels at TRMichels@yahoo.com, or Malvin at feedback@useewildlife.com

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10 point White-tailed Deer at one of the feeders

This is just a though process, in progress, but, many people want to know which moon phase animals are most active in. And there is a lot of anecdotal information available to hunters, who generally do not take good notes - because they are not getting sightings from every moon phase, for equal numbers of days, throughout the month.

And they my not take into account whether or not there are clouds present, which alters the amount of light available during the day and night. They may not take into account the perigee/apogee cycle of the moon, which my affect deer activity. And they may not take into account the weather conditions, which affect deer activity. All of this has to be taken into account, in order to come up with reliable conclusion.

Plus - If a person does not have deer sightings from an equal number of days during the full moon, and the same number of days during each of the other moon phases, at the same location, while sitting for the same number of hours, their notes may not accurately reflect when peak sightings of deer or bears occur. Which is why we conduct controlled, very rigid research projects.

Researchers have found that peak deer activity occurs during the full moon, and during the new moon, and during other phases. There seems to be no consensus. Which may suggest it makes no difference. I found peak sightings during October and November during the full moon.

It may be that, since deer are prey species, susceptible to predation, and because sight is a means of defense to them, meaning security to a deer is not being seen - that - the high visibility during full moonlit nights, without clouds, may allow deer to see well enough to detect dark objects, and movement, that they do not see on cloudy nights, or during the other phases of the moon. This high visibility factor may make deer so nervous, that they do no move much in open areas, at night, during the week of the full moon, provided there is no cloud cover.

This could result in more daytime deer movement, during the full moon, because the deer still need to eat, and they can do so, during the day, in wooded areas, where thy feel secure.

The graph above depicts the number of daily sightings of deer in October. There is no distinct pattern, except to say that high peak numbers of deer, including bucks, occurred during the day of the Perigee of the moon, and during the week of the last quarter of the moon. October coincides with the Fall Home Range Shift and Preferred Food Ripening in Arkansas.

In October there were 36 Dominant buck sightings, 63 Subdominant Buck sightings and 185 Doe and Fawn sightings, for a total of 284 deer sighted; plus 6 bears sightings and 368 turkey sightings. Deer typically used the feeders in open fields from 600-900 hours and from 1500-2000; and feeders in wooded areas from 800-1100 hours and from 1800-2300 hours. There was one sparring session by young bucks, with no fighting reported. No scraping or rubbing was noted.

 On one occasion it was noted that mature male white-tailed deer were sighted at 10:00 AM. This was after it had stopped raining (for most of the morning).

White-tailed Deer Buck sleeping

The graph above shows no distinct pattern, except to say that high peak numbers of does occurred on the day of the third quarter of the moon, and that high peak numbers of dominant bucks, subdominant bucks and does occurred two days following the first quarter of the following moon. November coincides with the Primary Breeding Phase of deer in Arkansas.

In November there were 82 Dominant Buck sightings, 187 Subdominant Buck sightings and 1,229 Doe & Fawn sightings, for a total of 1,498 deer sightings; plus 9 bear sightings. There were 3 buck fights, 1 doe fight, 6 sparring matches and 6 "any deer" chases. There were approximately 7 dominant bucks, 23 subdominant bucks, and 118 does and fawns (60 does, 78 fawns) on the property. The buck to doe ratio was approximately 1:3; and the dominant buck to doe ratio was approximately 1:9.

Large Black Bear (named Whiskers) at one of the feeders.

In August the bears were gearing up for putting on all of the fat reserves they need for winter hibernation (actually "torpor", not hibernation). As a result of this there was more daytime activity of all the bears, with several bears appearing at the feeders numerous times in one day, spending fairly long periods of time eating, as opposed to one very long session eating (up to 2 hrs 20 min for one bear) at feeders per day.

There were also several more bears at the feeders (bears not seen before), and they were seen well before daylight (a sow and 3 cubs). The last two weeks there were almost no sightings before 9 AM. Bears go through a phase called "hyperphagia" (hyperphasia) prior to denning. During this phase they feel as if their stomachs are not full, and they may feed p to 20 hours per day. This occurs from 1- 2 months before they den, giving them time to gain the fat they need to get them through up to 5 months of denning.

During this time there were also a lot more confrontations between bears - as a result of more bears at the feeders, and more bears arriving at the feeders at the same time. I suspect that the sows and cubs, and 1 & 2 year olds, will be active at different times during this phase, in an effort to avoid confrontations with the larger boars (approximately 3 large boars).

From August 1 to 16

8 deer were seen between 60 and 70 degrees, during 3 viewing sessions; 36 deer were seen between 70 and 80 degrees, during 11 viewing sessions; 14 deer were seen between 80 and 90 degrees, during 5 viewing sessions.

2 bears were seen between 60 and 70 degrees, during 2 viewing sessions; 20 bears were seen between 70 and 80 degrees, during 16 viewing sessions; 28 bears were seen between 80 and 90 degrees, during 16 viewing sessions; 13 bears were seen between 90 and 100 degrees, during 7 viewing sessions.

This show that peak bear activity occurred when the temperature was between 80 and 90 degrees, and that more bears were seen per viewing session (1.83) when the temperature was between 90 and 100 degrees.

It boggles the mind to think that large animals, with a black coat, and a growing layer of fat, would feed during the day, when temperatures were that high, instead of waiting to feed until the sun went down and the temperatures dropped 10-20 degrees at night.

From August 8-21

I just graphed the activity times of all the bears, at all the cameras, between 8/1/09 and 8/21/09. The results show that the bears remained primarily diurnal, with most activity between 8AM and 8 PM, but with activity as early as 3 AM, and as late as midnight. This nighttime activity was not seen in July and early August. Peak hourly activity occurred between 3 PM and 7 PM, just as it had in July.

The nocturnal activity was primarily by sows with cubs, which I suspect occurred as a result of the sows wanting to avoid conflict with the larger bears; even though there was some nocturnal activity by the larger bears. There was no evidence that the bears began to become more nocturnal in response to high temperatures, because they were most active in the afternoon, when temperatures rose above 90 degrees.

As a result of this I can only conclude that high temperatures do not impede daytime bear activity, and that, because the bears are not hunted, they do not exhibit nocturnal feeding activity to the extent that most hunted bear populations exhibit. The nocturnal feeding patterns of hunted bears (in high temperatures) are probably (in part) a result of hunting pressure; and not primarily high daytime temperatures.

However, until we see what temperatures the bears are active in, after they grow their winter coats (which should occur in the next month or two) - we cannot definitively say that the only factor the causes bears to become nocturnal in states where they are hunted, is hunting pressure. It may be that nocturnal activity is a result of both high temperatures and hunting pressure.

As I considered the type of habitat the hourly activity occurred in, I found that the pre dawn and post duck activity occurred, not in open forage areas as expected (because that is where many species that forage for vegetation are most active at night), but in or near wooded areas, where there is not normally much to forage on.

I suppose that if there were no feeders in wooded areas, the bears would either be active in open forage area, or they might not be active at all. The fact that they were active in wooded areas suggests that there is some nighttime activity by bears, and that if there is a food source near their normal nighttime "use areas" - they will go to those food sources - which may be why bears are active at baits put out by hunters in those areas where hunting is allowed during the fall.

The question that remains is. "If there were no feeders (or baits) in wooded areas, would the bears forage in open areas, or would they just not forage at all (at night), if they were not hunted?"

There is more information on Black Bears here.

To discuss T.R.'s latest findings, log on to the "T.R.'s Tips Talk Forum", click here http://s3.excoboard.com/exco/index.php?boardid=7357, and click on the "General Discussion" board, and open the "NEW Wildlife Activity Research Project" thread.

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