Stephanie Raiman, left, and Adam McDaniel, right, prepare to weigh a collared fawn. A Ball State University research team captured and collared fawns in 2013 and 2014 for a study of deer in the Bloomington area. Jon Blau | Herald-Times
Stephanie Raiman, left, and Adam McDaniel, right, prepare to weigh a collared fawn. A Ball State University research team captured and collared fawns in 2013 and 2014 for a study of deer in the Bloomington area. Jon Blau | Herald-Times
At a glance
Tim Carter, associate professor of mammalogy and wildlife biologist with Ball State University, said his team placed the fawns that were collared into four categories, depending on housing density in the area where they were captured — rural, exurban, suburban and urban. 

2013

Rural: 15

Exurban: 2

Suburban: 6

Urban: 24

2014

Rural: 22

Exurban: 6

Suburban: 2

Urban: 42

TOTAL

Rural: 37

Exurban: 8

Suburban: 8

Urban: 66

Help with the next deer study

To find out more or talk to Tim Carter or his Ball State University team about allowing them to trap deer on your property, email deerstudy@bsu.edu, visit deerstudy.iweb.bsu.edu or call 812-822-3308. It is completely voluntary.
Fawns enjoy city living in Bloomington. 

Despite dogs barking, lawn mowers running and cars zipping by, a two-year Ball State University study found that fawns are relaxed in urban Bloomington.

“They love living in Bloomington just as much as you do,” said Tim Carter, associate professor of mammalogy and wildlife biologist with Ball State. “They are not here because they have to be.” 

Carter presented the results of his team’s research to a group of about 35 people Monday night at City Hall and discussed plans for his next project — studying adult deer.

During the fawn study, Carter’s team of technicians, interns and a graduate student searched on foot for fawns and relied on sightings reported by community members. The fawns were then collared and a variety of information about each fawn was recorded to track reproduction, population fluctuations and movement.

Carter said he was “completely wrong” about where the fawns would be the least stressed, believing it would be in the quiet forest setting.

The less-stressed urban fawns are also surviving longer. Carter said they found an 80 percent chance of living to 6 weeks old in rural areas and a 95 percent chance if the fawn lived in the city.

The two biggest causes of death were vehicle collisions and coyotes.
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