Chronobiological Patterns of White-Tailed Deer in Suburban Maryland: Implications for Deer Population Management, Human-Deer Conflict, and Zoonotic Disease Mitigation

Abstract Understanding the ecology of the often dense white-tailed deer populations in urban and suburban landscapes is important for mitigating a variety of conflicts that arise with dense human populations, especially issues surrounding zoonotic disease mitigation and impacts to existing understory vegetation. We collared white-tailed deer in highly suburban areas of Howard County, Maryland. High-resolution GPS data enabled us to create autocorrelated kernel density home ranges and model deer speed, rates of activity, and proximity to residential buildings over time. Home ranges encompassed approximately 35% residential land and an average of 71 and 129 residential properties were found within female and male core ranges, respectively. Sex, time of day, and day of year all influenced deer speed, activity, and proximity to residences. Deer moved into residential areas nightly, especially in winter, and exhibited bouts of increased speed and activity shortly after sunrise and sunset, though with distinctive seasonal changes. We discuss how variation in home ranges and movements may influence population management success and explore year-round periods of increased risk of deer transporting ticks to residential areas. These findings focus our broad understanding of deer movements in suburban landscapes to improve deer population management, limit human-wildlife conflict, and manage against the spread of ticks and tick-borne disease in suburban areas.