. Ecology of sympatric populations of mule deer and white-tailed deer in a prairie environment . MONTH Fig. 14. Monthly patterns of habitat use by radioed female mule deer on the Cherry Creek area, 1983-1985, relative to habitat availability. During summer, sagebrush grasslands, badlands, mesic shrublands, hardwood draws, and legume hayfields were selected; bunchgrass prairies were used in proportion to availability; and mixed prairies and grainfields were avoided (/><().05, Table 14). Habitat use patterns based on data for radioed females were similar, except that legume hayfields were
. Ecology of sympatric populations of mule deer and white-tailed deer in a prairie environment . MONTH Fig. 14. Monthly patterns of habitat use by radioed female mule deer on the Cherry Creek area, 1983-1985, relative to habitat availability. During summer, sagebrush grasslands, badlands, mesic shrublands, hardwood draws, and legume hayfields were selected; bunchgrass prairies were used in proportion to availability; and mixed prairies and grainfields were avoided (/><().05, Table 14). Habitat use patterns based on data for radioed females were similar, except that legume hayfields were used only in proportion to availability. However, as noted above, both data sets may have underestimated use of these fields. Spotlight observations of deer on 2 areas with alfalfa fields indicated those fields were heavily used at night and highly preferred throughout the summer (P<). Data for radioed females also indicated proportionately much greater use of hardwood draws than did survey data. This probably reflected both visibility bias against deer in habitat with overhead cover and differential selection by adult females for mesic habitats that provided both dense hiding cover and succulent forage while rearing fawns. 53
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