Ball State biology students will travel to Bloomington this summer to track deer migration in the area.
Chad Williamson, a Ball State University biology graduate student, is leading a team of Ball State students.
Williamson has been working on a two-year study to track the migration patterns of urban deer with Ball State biology professor Tim Carter as his mentor.
Each summer, Williamson takes a team of around five students to Bloomington with him to put collars on young deer to track them.
“We know a lot about deer around the world because they are one of the most studied animals on the planet, but we didn’t know a whole lot about the deer in the city of Bloomington," said Tim Carter, the principle investigator of the project. "We wanted to see how similar or different the urban deer are versus the deer that are out of town.”
The collars utilize radio transmitters to make it possible to track the deer using an antenna and a receiver.
The study has two parts: a fawn study and an adult deer study.
The fawn study has been in place for two years and is coming to an end
May 2015. The adult study has just begun and is expected to last around the same duration as the fawn study.
"Human-wildlife conflict is only going to get worse as we are forced to interact. These studies are going to show what’s going on and how to address it appropriately,” Carter said.
Williamson said the data has shown urban deer have a higher survival rate than the rural deer. The rural deer tend to use up more land as well.
“Working with wildlife brings challenges," Williamson said. "Animals don’t do what you want them to do, when you want them to do it. Finding animals is difficult and working in harsh areas and being outdoors can be difficult too, but it’s all also very rewarding."
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