Suppression of reproduction in Upper Michigan White-tailed Deer, Odocoileus virginianus, by climatic stress during the rut

Abstract

Acute physiological stress following an unseasonably early blizzard apparently inhibited folliculogenesis (hence estrus) among adult White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus ) in Upper Michigan during the 1985 rut. A fourfold increase in the proportion of non-pregnant does occurred that breeding season compared to the long-term mean, 4.7 versus 17.5%, respectively. There was no evidence that inadequate nutrition during pre-rut prompted this outcome, nor that prenatal mortality was a factor.