Dr. Hoof Stock

…French will add to these observations throughout the fall semester…

We collected some anecdotal observations on waterbuck and videos of deer rutting vocalizations….

This is the day that the males were switched….Renee will fill in the details later

This  is the title of a book by Norm Owen-Smith, which has been influencing my thinking….

The waterbuck are at feeding troughs in Juniper Loop. They are all spread out at each trough and are the dominant species there. No gemsbok, addax, or sable are in view. 8:45am (key: L-lucifer, T- Toby, WB- waterbuck)

8:50am- calf displaced by axis deer at trough.

9:00am- L spotted feeding at troughs and moved to a trough with y63.

9:07am- L watching female and sub-adult approach group with Toby.

9:08am- L sniffed female and does flehmen. L returned to sniff y63 and y63 moved away.

9:11am- L moved to Toby’s group.

9:12am- T head lifted and flicked and moving away from L.  L approached several female and they all moved.

9:13am- L heading back towards feed trought and ran when cars approached.

9:14am-

Toby is back!  As we were doing our morning tour for the Behavioral Ecology field trip, we discovered Toby (M55Y), the castrated male waterbuck feeding on pellets poured on the road near the intersection of the cut-through road and the juniper loop road.  At the time we observed Toby, no other waterbuck were around the Juniper Loop.

The intact male, Douglas M42Y, was grazing with 17 females by the clinic at daybreak.  They moved past him, and when they were almost out of sight for him, he followed. From my perspective, he was clearly following them, not herding or leading them.  When they drifted off in a different direction, he changed his direction.  When they were out of sight, he lifted his head, looked around and walked toward the largest group.

He tested a few females, sniffing at the rear until the female urinated, then following closely and occasionally doing a foreleg lift.  The females were mostly ignoring him.  Occasionally one would circle back, effectively moving her rear away from him.  However, he followed closely and intently.  The courtship was very low intensity, no flehmen or mounting.  No head flicking or darting by females.  I could not get an identity on any of the females that were attractive.

The females moved to the shed behind the clinic, then crossed over into the juniper woods.  I followed them on the road and for the first time was able to observe them for a bit in the woods.  They were really well camouflaged in the Juniper, standing motionless.  When I did start the car, they seemed more alert and spooky than out in the open.  One laid down in the dark shade of the juniper, not for long.  They all drifted toward the tank downstream from Turtle Pond.  However, they did not go to that tank.  They went down the road to the northwest.  They stayed in the shadows, not in the small meadows scattered in the woods.

The intact male, Douglas M42Y, followed the females in the woods, at a distance of 30-50m.  For example, they crossed the road in front of me.  He circled quietly around behind me, following a well worn path, not the road.

I searched the road past Turtle Pond (very low), the gravel loop, the lodge, the shelter southeast of the creek.  No sign of any waterbuck.

One juvenile male was with a juvenile female across the road from the clinic shed.  He spooked easily and disappeared into the woods when I drove by.

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Highlights- cranes did their courtship dance and followed my vehicle.

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Everyone at Fossil Rim is gearing up for the big country music event tomorrow.

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This evening, students for our course Field Trip arrive, for Behavioral ecology.

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Jane

Renee trained Aleyda in the observation and data protocol.  Aleyda really appreciated the thorough and systematic way that Renee did the training.  Aleyda is looking forward to doing observations every other week during the summer.

We look forward to Renee posting more details on these field notes, at a later date.

The intact male, M42Y “Douglas” respectfully followed and mounted F63Y persistently.

I did not see Toby the whole time, although I looked everywhere for him.

Behavior of M42Y was very much like the vasectomized male “Lucifer”.

A juvenile male interacted with M42Y, who arched his neck but was gentle, not escalating beyond a horn dip.

Although it rained from midnight through 3 pm, the waterbuck were visible much of the time.

The pasture is green 2-4 inches of grass.  Under the junipers on the top of the mesa by the cheetah cages, the annual grasses are green with good coverage.  The ephemeral ponds have inches of water, but the larger tanks are still down 4-6 ft.

Highlight was the sandhill crane chasing the turkey who started displaying too near the safari tank.

…more details to follow…

P.S. I met with Kelley, Adam, Roy, Hollie, Curt on Fri.

Jane

Bernard & Michael did observations in the rain…..more details coming.