White-tailed Deer Behavior

Viewing animals and their activities in a natural setting is rewarding for both biologists and the public. People relate to animal behaviors because behaviors have human analogs, which can both help and hinder interpretation of the behaviors. As a science, behavioral ecology applies ecological and evolutionary principles to understand animal behavior (Krebs and Davies, 1997). Thus, behavioral ecologists seek scientic answers to the “why” questions that occur to amateur and professional observers alike: why does an animal engage in a specic behavior and what are the short-and long-term consequences of the behavior?