Premium
Response of Deer to Containment by a Poly‐Mesh Fence for Mitigating Disease Outbreaks
Author(s) -
LAVELLE MICHAEL J.,
FISCHER JUSTIN W.,
HYGNSTROM SCOTT E.,
WHITE JOSHUA J.,
HILDRETH AARON M.,
PHILLIPS GREGORY E.,
VERCAUTEREN KURT C.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
the journal of wildlife management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.94
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1937-2817
pISSN - 0022-541X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1937-2817.2010.tb01293.x
Subject(s) - fencing , odocoileus , fence (mathematics) , enclosure , outbreak , population , nuisance , zoology , geography , veterinary medicine , environmental science , forestry , biology , ecology , medicine , engineering , environmental health , telecommunications , computer science , structural engineering , virology , parallel computing
Rapidly deployable and effective methods are needed to contain free‐ranging deer ( Odocoileus spp.) during acute disease outbreaks. We evaluated efficacy of a 2.1‐m‐tall polypropylene mesh (poly‐mesh) fence for containing ≥15 free‐ranging white‐tailed deer ( O. virginianus ) within a 42‐ha area in eastern Nebraska, USA. We observed a 99% decrease in deer leaving the enclosure area after we installed fencing (1 deer jumped; 0.02 deer/hr) compared with prefence rates (5.26 deer/hr). However, 8 deer (53% of censused population) escaped the enclosure during a census drive after our study. Poly‐mesh fencing may be effective in temporarily containing free‐ranging deer during minimally disruptive deer removal actions such as trapping or sharpshooting.