DROP-NETTING DEER: COSTS AND INCIDENCE OF CAPTURE MYOPATHY

Abstract

The drop-net was first used to capture whitetailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) in 1966 in Texas (Ramsey 1968), and subsequently has been used to trap deer in several states (Rongstad and McCabe 1984). However, neither the cost efficiency of the technique nor the incidence of capture myopathy, a potentially fatal noninfectious disease related to struggling during capture (Wobeser 1981, Chalmers and Barrett 1982, Spraker 1982), has been reported. Both cost and mortality incurred during trapping are important when planning future projects; therefore, we report estimates of the cost/ deer captured and incidence of mortality when trapping with a drop-net.