University of Montana ScholarWorks at University of Montana Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers Graduate School 1979 Social behavior of Rocky Mountain elk at the National Bison Range Kent B. Livezey The University of Montana Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd Let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Livezey, Kent B., "Social behavior of Rocky Mountain elk at the National Bison Range" (1979). Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers. 6507. https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd/6507 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at ScholarWorks at University of Montana. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks at University of Montana. For more information, please contact [email protected]. SOCIAL BEHAVIOR OF ROCKY MOUNTAIN ELK AT THE NATIONAL BISON RANGE By Kent B. Livezey B.S., Principia College, Elsah, Illinois, 1976 Presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA 1979 Approved by: Chairman, Boar Examiners Dean, Graduate school Date Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UMI Number; EP37308 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. UMI Oèssôrtation PuWisliing UMI EP37308 Published by ProQuest LLC (2013). Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code ProQuest ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Livezey, Kent B., M.S., Winter 197 9 Wildlife Biology Social Behavior of Rocky Mountain Elk at The National Bison Range (143 pp. ) Director: Donald Jenni An isolated elk herd, maximum of 20 individuals, was studied intensively from 1 April to 11 November 1977 at The National Bison Range, Moiese, Montana. Eleven elk of the cow-calf herd were individually identified from eartags and physical charac­ teristics. In addition, 14-22 bulls which associated with them were observed during the rut. The only individuals of this social herd observed more than a few hundred meters from other elk were calving cows, spikes during the rut, and a cow 16-18 years old. The herd's home range was about 1,200 hectares. Elk were located in coniferous timber and timber - grassland edge between 2 7 May and 21 June m ore often than during any other period. This 26-day period corresponds with the dates of calving. Some of the cow-calf interactions from calving through weaning described and quantified were: hiding, following, social integration, duration and rate of suckles, and thief-suckles. Over 500 aggressive acts were recorded and analyzed. Fifty- two behavioral acts were described. Analysis of over 22,500 bits of data from scan and instantaneous sampling showed differ­ ences in activity between sex-age classes and between different tim es of day. Males older than spikes were observed with individuals of the isolated herd on only three occasions between 1 April and 30 August. Bulls were always present in the study area between 31 August and 11 November, dividing the herd into as many as three small harems. At least 10 bulls performed more than 1,800 repetitions of rutting behaviors such as bugling, spars, noses or licks to females, mounts, antler-thrashes, and wallows. The presence of fences within the area provided observations of the disturbing conditions brought about by such unnatural boundaries. ii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to thank the Montana Cooperative Wildlife Research Unit and the National Rifle Association of America for funding this research. The Montana Unit also provided vehicles and equipment. Dr. Donald Jenni initiated this research, assisted in datum presenta­ tion and thesis writing, and strove to improve the quality of the work presented. Milt Haderlie, Assistant Refuge Manager, and Marv Kashkie, Refuge Manager of the National Bison Range, encouraged the study and supplied information and guidance. Dr. Bart O'Gara provided help in the field and in thesis writing. My wife, Kim, assisted me in the field and drew the sketches of the behavioral displays. Dr s. Les Marcum, Lin Irby, and David Kitchen advised me about quantification of the behaviors recorded and about the results obtainable from the activity data. Barb Von Gunten and Dr. Dale and Yvette McCullough furnished advice and elk observations, John Walkenbach wrote the computer programs required to analyze the activity data. Ill Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT.................................................................................................................... ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.................................................................................. iii LIST OF T A B L E S ................................................................................................ viii LIST OF FIG URES................................................................................................ x CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION.................................................................................. 1 IL DESCRIPTION OF THE STUDY A R E A ............................ 3 Vegetation and T o p o g r a p h y ................................................ 3 Tourist Im p act ........................................................................... 5 Mammalian Species .................................................................... 5 The Elk H erd .................................................................................. 6 III. MATERIALS AND M ETH O DS ................................................ 8 IV. RESULTS ................................................................................................ 11 Definitions of B eh aviors ....................................................... 11 Group Behavior and Possible Mother-offspring Relationships ........................................................................... 17 Alert-alarm Behavior and Habituation to Disturbance ........................................................................... 19 Vocalization 2 3 Interspecific Behavior 2 5 Fence Behavior 2 8 Weather E ffects ........................................................................... 33 Play Behavior . 34 Urination and D efecation ....................................................... 35 Behavior of an Old C ow .............................................................. 36 IV Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Page Calving and Cow-calf B ehavior ............................................ 3 7 Habitat Preference During C alving ............................. 37 Hiding B ehavior ......................................................................... 41 Cows Finding Hiding or Bedded Calves and Locating Calves After a Disturbance . 43 Cow Behavior When with Her Young Calf . 44 Following Behavior and Locomotive Development ......................................................................... 45 Calf M ortality ................................................................................ 46 Social Integration ........................................................................ 48 Nursing Behavior ........................................................................ 48 Suckle approach ................................................................. 48 Initiation and t e r m in a t io n ............................................ 48 Frequency of nursing interactions .... 49 Duration of nu rsing .......................................................... 50 Thief-suckle ................................................................. 51 Concurrent nursing behavior .................................... 54 Disturbances ......................................................................... 54 Nursing behavior preceded by bedding b o u t s ....................................................................................... 54 B u n t i n g ....................................................................................... 54 Bedding Behavior ................................................................................ 55 S e lf- g r o o m .............................................................................................. 56 Social-groom ....................................................................................... 56 Mutual-groom ....................................................................................... 57 N o s e ...................................................................................... 57 Nose -to-nose ....................................................................................... 58 Mount, Throat-place and Chest-bump by Elk Other than Rutting M