Blue Jay, vol.39, issue 4

As part of an ongoing investigation of winter mortality of wildlife in Saskat¬ chewan, conducted jointly by the Wildlife Branch of the Department of Tourism and Renewable Resources and the Department of Veterinary Pathology of the Western College of Veterinary Medicine, winter mortality of white-tailed deer was again monitored in the very mild 1980-1981 winter. Subjectively, the 1980-1981 winter can be described as very mild with above average mean monthly temperatures, snowpack below average in most of agricultural Saskat¬ chewan, a mild preceding autumn, and a shorter than average period of snow cover. White-tailed deer found dead by DTRR field staff during winter were ex¬ amined to measure their physical condi¬ tion and to determine the factors caus¬ ing and/or contributing to their death. A total of 61 white-tailed deer was submitted for necropsy, notably higher than the 35 deer submitted the previous winter, also judged to be mild, but still markedly less than the totals submitted in severe winters earlier in the study.1 However, as in the mild 1979-1980 winter, most of the specimens (91%) died as a result of collisions with auto¬ mobiles (89%) or trains (2%) (Table 1). Shooting, a bacterial infection, a trapper’s snare, and predation by coyotes each accounted for one death. The deer was only maimed in the predator attack and was subsequently shot. One old female in poor bodily condition died after running into a fence and one deer died of shock following rupture of muscles in its hind limbs probably due to slipping on ice. As was found in the 1979-1980 winter, mortality