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The species has been introduced in Hawaii (Tomich 1986) and Argentina.","areaOfOccupancy":null,"areaOfOccupancyComments":null,"numberEosComments":null,"popSizeComments":null,"viabilityComments":null,"threatImpactComments":"Extensive, intensive land use by humans can reduce, eliminate, or displace local mule deer populations, but many kinds of human activities, particularly those that generate patches of early successional growth in heavily forested areas, may improve the habitat for deer. Grazing/browsing by domestic sheep in dry environments reduces the capacity of the habitat to support deer (e.g., see Hall 1946).<br><br>Grinnell (1914) suggested that an absence or extreme scarcity of mule deer along part of the lower Colorado River (Arizona-California) probably was due to \"rapid settlement of the river bottom.\" Presumably this involved habitat loss as well as excessive hunting (Grinnell suggested that hunting by miners eliminated bighorn sheep from Riverside Mountain, also along the lower Colorado River).<br><br>Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a transmissable spongiform encephalopathy of mule deer, white-tailed deer, elk, and moose. It is caused by infectious agents known as prions (an abnormal form of a normal protein). Symptoms include lesions on the central nervous system, behavioral abnormalities, and, most obviously, chronic weight loss.CWD is always fatal. First recognized in captive mule deer in Colorado, CWD now occurs in the wild and has spread to at least dozen states and two Canadian provinces. It may be spread from one animal to another via saliva, feces, or possibly other body fluids. CWD does not cause rapid, widespread die-offs of deer, but there is concern about the long-term effects of the disease. No practical methods of CWD eradication are known; the focus thus far has been on learning more about CWD and how it is transmitted, and on preventing the disease from spreading by banning the transportation of live cervids across state lines.","shortTermTrendComments":null,"longTermTrendComments":null,"inventoryNeeds":null,"numberProtEosComments":null,"protectionNeeds":null,"otherConsiderations":null,"intrinsicVulnerabilityComments":null,"enviromentalSpecificityComments":null},"animalCharacteristics":{"elementGlobalId":101365,"majorHabitat":{"id":3,"majorHabitatDescEn":"Terrestrial","majorHabitatDescEs":"Terrestre","majorHabitatDescFr":"Terrestre"},"nonMigrant":true,"localMigrant":true,"longDistanceMigrant":false,"mobilityMigrationComments":"In mountainous regions, mule deer tend to migrate (up to 100+ km) from high summer range to lower winter range. For example, in Nevada, deer migrate in autumn from areas where snow lies deeply in winter (e.g., higher mountains) to areas where there is little or no snow (generally lower elevations); in some areas the climate is mild enough to allow deer to occupy the same locations all year (Hall 1946). In southeastern Alaska, deer migrated from low elevation heavily forested winter range to higher elevation summer range in open canopy subalpine and alpine habitats (Schoen and Kirchhoff 1990). In the arid southwest, deer reportedly migrate in response to rainfall patterns (Longhurst and Chattin 1941), but this has not been documented. In southwestern Arizona, some mule deer were nonmigratory whereas others migrated seasonally between summer-dry-season ranges that had permanent water sources to other areas that lacked permanent water (Rautenstrauch and Krausman 1989). Mule deer are not migratory in many plains regions. They exhibit high fidelity to individual seasonal ranges (e.g, see Kucera 1992).<br><br>Dispersal distances range up to around 100-200 km (Anderson and Wallmo 1984).<br><br>Home range size varies with season, gender, age, body mass, habitat, and other factors. Within a single season, home range size may be as small as around 30-40 hectares or as large as several hundred hectares; generally, mule deer do not move very far on a daily basis (Mackie et al., in Chapman and Fledhamer 1983).","foodHabitsComments":"Browses on wide variety of woody plants and grazes on grasses and forbs. May feed on agricultural crops. Also commonly consumes mushrooms, especially in late summer and fall (Great Basin Nat. 52:321). In northern California, reproductive success apparently was reduced due to selenium deficiency (Flueck, 1994, Ecology 75:807-812).","animalPhenologyComments":"Throughout the year most activity occurs at dawn and dusk, though nocturnal and daytime activity is common.<br><br>Males grow antlers from late winter (March) through summer and into fall (October). Antler shedding occurs from December through April (mostly January-February).","colonialBreeder":false,"length":199,"width":null,"weight":215000,"animalPhenologies":[{"animalCagPhenologyId":101405,"animalPhenology":{"id":2,"animalPhenologyDescEn":"Circadian","animalPhenologyDescEs":"Circadiano","animalPhenologyDescFr":"Circadien","displayOrder":2},"adult":true,"immature":true},{"animalCagPhenologyId":101406,"animalPhenology":{"id":5,"animalPhenologyDescEn":"Crepuscular","animalPhenologyDescEs":"Crepuscular","animalPhenologyDescFr":"Crépusculaire","displayOrder":5},"adult":true,"immature":true}],"animalFoodHabits":[{"animalCagFoodHabitsId":102675,"foodHabits":{"id":4,"foodHabitsDescEn":"Herbivore","foodHabitsDescEs":"Herbívoro","foodHabitsDescFr":"Herbivore","displayOrder":4},"adult":true,"immature":true}]},"occurrenceDelineations":[{"eoSpecsDetailId":1578,"locationUseClass":{"id":1,"locationUseClassDescEn":"Not applicable","locationUseClassDescEs":"No se aplica","locationUseClassDescFr":"Sans objet","displayOrder":1},"eoSpecGroupName":null,"subtypes":"Migration route, Summer range, Winter range","inferredExtentDistance":2.5,"inferredExtentNotes":"Based on a home range of 500 hectares (McCullough, in Wilson and Ruff 1999).","minimumEoCriteria":"Evidence of historical presence, or current and likely recurring presence, at a given location. Such evidence minimally includes collection or reliable observation and documentation of one or more individuals in appropriate habitat where the species is presumed to be established and breeding.","mappingGuidance":null,"separationBarriers":"None.","separationDistanceUnsuitableHabitatat":null,"separationDistanceSuitableHabitatat":null,"altSeparationProcedure":"Occurrence separations should be based on populations that exhibit specific migration patterns, or on appropriate resource agency management units, rather than on specific prescribed distances.","separationJustification":"Home ranges vary from 30 to over 3000 hectares (Anderson and Wallmo 1984). Males usually occupy home ranges of about 500 hectares, females usually 250 hectares (McCullough, in Wilson and Ruff 1999).<br><br>Mule deer are good swimmers; water is not normally a barrier. Unsuitable habitat, however, includes waters that do not freeze regularly, as well as urban centers (not suburban areas) and extremely rugged mountain terrain.","versionDate":"2004-09-23","versionAuthor":"Hammerson, G., and S. Cannings","versionNotes":null,"lastModified":"2020-02-25T18:15:11.134793Z"}],"plantCharacteristics":null,"elementManagement":{"elementGlobalId":101365,"eoManagementGroupName":null,"stewardshipOverview":null,"impacts":null,"restorationPotential":null,"siteConservationPlansConsidered":null,"managementMethods":"Cattle grazing results in loss of hiding cover for fawns, possibly may increase rate of loss of fawns to predation (Loft et al. 1987). On summer range in the Sierra Nevada in California, cattle evidently competed with deer, particularly at high stocking rates and during a year of below-average precipitation; adverse effects could be reduced by reducing or eliminating cattle grazing during early summer on all or part of a grazing allotment (Kie 1991; see also Loft et al. 1991 for further evidence of cattle-induced habitat shifts by mule deer). <br><br>See Wood and Wolfe (1988) for discussion of viability of intercept feeding to reduce deer-vehicle collisions. <br><br>See Andelt et al. (1991) for information on the relative effectiveness of various repellents for reducing damage to plants (when the deer were moderately hungry, even the best repellents failed to deter browsing).","monitoringMethods":"See Mitchell (1986) for a description of a spotlight census method.","managementProgramContacts":null,"monitoringProgramContacts":null,"managementResearchPrograms":null,"managementResearchNeeds":null,"biologicalResearchNeeds":null,"additionalTopics":null},"occurrenceViabilities":[{"eoRankSpecsDetailId":102913,"eoRankSpecsGroupName":null,"locationUseClass":{"id":1,"locationUseClassDescEn":"Not applicable","locationUseClassDescEs":"No se aplica","locationUseClassDescFr":"Sans objet","displayOrder":1},"excellentViability":null,"goodViability":null,"fairViability":null,"poorViability":null,"viabilityJustification":"Use the Generic Guidelines for the Application of Occurrence Ranks (2008).<br>The Key for Ranking Species Occurrences Using the Generic Approach provides a step-wise process for implementing this method.","versionDate":null,"versionAuthor":null,"versionNotes":null,"lastModified":"2020-05-14T02:18:50.315798Z"}],"references":[{"id":1151804,"citation":"American Society of Mammalogists (ASM). 2025. 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Engstrom, R. S. Hoffman, C. A. Jones, F. Reid, D. W. Rice, and C. Jones. 2003a. Revised checklist of North American mammals north of Mexico, 2003. Museum of Texas Tech University Occasional Papers 229:1-23.","shortCitationAuthor":"Baker et al.","shortCitationYear":2003,"referenceCode":"B03BAK01NAUS","lastModified":"2020-02-25T18:12:05.742349Z"},{"id":759420,"citation":"Bradley, R.D., L.K. Ammerman, R.J. Baker, L.C. Bradley, J.A. Cook. R.C. Dowler, C. Jones, D.J. Schmidly, F.B. Stangl Jr., R.A. Van den Bussche and B. Würsig. 2014. Revised checklist of North American mammals north of Mexico, 2014. Museum of Texas Tech University Occasional Papers 327:1-28. Available at: http://www.nsrl.ttu.edu/publications/opapers/ops/OP327.pdf","shortCitationAuthor":"Bradley et al.","shortCitationYear":2014,"referenceCode":"A14BRA01NACA","lastModified":"2020-02-25T14:38:17.880059Z"},{"id":102597,"citation":"Caire, W., J. D. Tyler, B. P. Glass, and M. A. Mares. 1989. Mammals of Oklahoma. 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