Happy New Year!
Easing back into work and not work (blogging) ....
Jim saw ten deer on his jaunt around Pike Island. While running around the island I have never seen more than three deer at any one time, which has always made me wonder whether the same three deer re-appear at other vantage points to be double-counted.
I'm sure the carrying capacity of Pike Island is greater than three, and as Jim says, any rational deer should find their way there to avoid being shot. But I can't be sure there's more than three.
Some sort of capture-recapture study would be useful.
Posted by robe0419 at January 3, 2005 04:59 PM | TrackBackMighty nice of you to reference my site. I've known of places where the deer concentration exceeded 100 animals per square mile. Of course, those were agricultural areas where, I assume, the food availability is better than it is in the more naturally vegetated areas. I've also seen deer on the mainland within the confines of the state park. I suppose this time of year they just go back and forth across the ice.
Posted by: Jim at January 3, 2005 08:15 PM