Mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) fawn:doe (f:d) ratios in December have declined by 0.015 fawns/doe/year from 1972 through 1995 in Colorado, USA. To determine whether lower pregnancy or fetal production was the cause of low December f:d ratios, we estimated mule deer pregnancy rates in the Poudre River drainage during January 1998 and pregnancy and fetal rates on the Uncompahgre Plateau during February 1999. Twenty-seven (93.1%) of 29 yearling and adult does in the Poudre River drainage were detected pregnant with pregnancy-specific protein-B (PSPB). This proportion did not differ (P > 0.2) from the proportion of yearling and adult does that were pregnant when collected by various methods in previous studies in Colorado. Thirty-six [...]
