Preventing Desert Mule Deer Drownings in the Mohawk Canal, Arizona

摘要

There are less than 21 concrete-lined canals in the western U.S. and Canada in which hundreds of ungulates, primarily mule deer (Odocoileus hemoinus), have drowned. From June 1982 through October 1985 the authors monitored desert mule deer (O.h. crooki) activity along a 15 km study section of the Mohawk Canal, southwest Arizona, and evaluated escape steps and ramps with deflector cables and alternate water sources built to reduce deer drownings in the canal. As many as 67 deer have drowned in the canal in one year. The study section was checked 478 times and 5,307 deer-canal interactions (DCI) were recorded.