Marking Technique for Field Recognition of Individual turkeys and Deer

Document Type

Article

Journal/Book Title/Conference

Journal of Wildlife Management

Volume

28

Issue

1

Publisher

Wiley

Publication Date

1964

First Page

167

Last Page

170

Abstract

Plasticized nylon fabric markers were attached to each ear of 123 white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) fawns and to the patagium of each wing of 242 turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo) to mark the animals for subsequent individual recognition in the field. Turkeys and deer bearing markers are consistently recognized as marked animals at distances up to 400 yards with the naked eye. Aided by 7 × 35 binoculars, an observer can usually make positive identification of individual animals at distances of 150-200 yards, although differences in color and style of marker, lighting conditions, and nature of cover influence the distance factor. Only 3 of 246 tags used on deer fawns during the 1961 and 1962 fawning seasons were known to have been lost. Observations spanning periods of 12-16 months on 242 turkeys revealed only 2 birds with one wing marker missing.

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