Collaring Mule Deer

 A little over a week ago Ken and I had the opportunity to attend a mule deer collaring operation that was a joint effort between WGF, UW and TNC. I was given permission to photograph the event and ended up with a large number of images from the day. I should have put them in chronological order but I always seem to forget before I upload them and it is difficult to rearrange them once they are in the post!

The goal of the project is to track migration and habits of a large number of female mule deer along the Absaroka and Beartooth Mountain Fronts for the next two years to establish patterns. At the end of 24 months the collars will automatically fall off. They also have a break-away in case they would get snagged on something in the meantime. The collars will transmit coordinates several times a day so the animals can be tracked in real time.

While the researchers had the animals captive and lightly sedated, they also collected other data such as blood samples, pregnancy status, samples of scat, temperature and weight. Before release, the deer were spray painted with a bright orange spot on their head so they wouldn't accidentally be netted a second time by the capture crew.

 In the image above, the animals are gently lowered to the ground by the helicopter crew. Although I didn't get to witness the actual moment of capture of any of the animals, it was really amazing to watch the professionalism of those in the chopper as they went about the delicate maneuverings.

 In most cases the animals were brought in two by two but every now and then they arrived with a single deer. Even though the animals had their eyes covered, you know they had to be thinking WTH!

The moment of release seemed to be the time of biggest danger for the researchers. As soon as the animals were out of the restraints they were up and out of there, often with legs flying.