Effect of domestic cattle on the condition of female white-tailed deer in southern pine-bluestem forests, USA

Effect of domestic cattle stocking on the nutritional condition of white-tailed deer Odocoileus uirginianus (Zimmermann, 1780) was assessed using physiological indices of collected specimens. Three study areas were delineated in McCurtain County, Oklahoma (heavy cattle stocking), and Howard (moderate to light cattle stocking) and Pike (no cattle stocking) counties, Arkansas that were similar with respect to soils and vegetation but differed with respect to cattle stocking rate. Female white-tailed deer were collected from study areas in February and August 1987-1988 to assess nutritional condition. Deer collected from study areas exposed to cattle grazing in February had lower carcass weights, fat attributes (femur marrow and kidney fat), and reproductive rates (fetuses/doe) than deer that were not exposed to cattle grazing. In August, deer collected from the moderate cattle area had heavier eviscerated carcass weights, serum glucose, albumin, and albumin/globulin ratios than deer collected from the heavy cattle area. Results suggest that if cattle are removed from managed forests in winter, nutritional condition of deer would be improved because of reduced competition for food.