SOCIAL-LEARNING AN IMPORTANT INFLUENCE ON FORAGING BEHAVIOR IN WHITE-TAILED DEER

The use of hand-reared deer in foraging experiments is a common practi ce, but its validity as a technique for estimating wild deer behavior has often been questioned. We conducted 2 experiments to determine the influence of learning and experience on forage selection and foraging efficiency in white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus). In the firs t experiment, we compared food selection (diet composition) and foragi ng efficiency (biting rate, bite size, and intake rate) among a group of adult hand-reared deer that had been used in previous field experim ents (experienced adults), and 2 groups of fawns, one of which was wea ned to a diet of 13 browses, a pelleted ration, and alfalfa hay (exper ienced fawns), the other weaned to pellets and hay alone (naive farms) . Each animal was offered an identical array of 6 browses varying in p alatability in a series of 5 feeding trials. The naive fawns selected a diet similar to that of the experienced fawns and adults. The orderi ng of preferences of the 6 browses was not statistically different amo ng the 3 groups of animals. Biting rates, bite sizes, and intake rates were not statistically different between naive and experienced fawns, although bite size and intake rates were generally greater for the ad ult animals. In a second experiment, we compared food selection and fo raging efficiency of wild and hand-reared adult deer using a procedure similar to experiment 1. Food selection by tame and wild deer was sim ilar except for a difference between groups for one of the lesser-pref erred species of browse. Preference rankings of the 6 browses were not statistically different when preferences were ranked according to mas s consumed or number of bites taken. We suggest that food selection by white-tailed deer is largely an innate behavior and that hand-reared deer are essentially the foraging equivalents of maternal-reared or wi ld animals.