Feb. 19, 2009
Vol. 39, No. 55

For more information, contact Joe Rogerson, Fish and Wildlife, 302-735-3600, or Joanna Wilson, Public Affairs, 302-739-9902.

Idaho Firm to Conduct 2009 Delaware Deer Population Survey
Using Advanced Aerial Infrared Technology

            The DNREC Division of Fish and Wildlife announced today that Vision Air Research Inc. out of Boise, Idaho, has contracted with the Division to conduct this year’s statewide aerial surveys for white-tailed deer. Vision Air, a private company that specializes in wildlife surveys using advanced aerial infrared sensor technology, also conducted the Division’s 2005 survey.  

“The two most common questions I receive are, how many deer were harvested during the hunting season and how many deer are there in Delaware,” said Joe Rogerson, deer biologist with the Division of Fish and Wildlife. The first is easy to answer, as hunters are required to report their harvests within 24 hours, but the second is far more difficult. “Even though Delaware is the second smallest state in the U.S., we need good, scientific tools to estimate the statewide deer population as accurately as possible,” Rogerson said.

For its wildlife surveys, Vision Air Research uses a specialized, highly advanced technology, commonly called forward looking infrared, or FLIR, which also has both military and civilian applications. The highly sensitive FLIR equipment detects changes in body heat and uses these variations to create images. 

“If you’ve ever watched the TV show ‘Cops’ or one of the other shows where police officers chase and attempt to arrest bad guys, then you’ve probably seen FLIR technology in action. The bad guys that are glowing white that you see from the aerial view of the police helicopter are detected using FLIR,” Rogerson said. 

Over the next two weeks, Vision Air will fly 1,000 feet above Delaware’s landscape after sunset to count deer using FLIR. As with the 2005 survey, the crew will fly in a pattern over a survey swath eight miles long and two miles wide in each of Delaware’s 17 deer management zones, counting all of the deer in each swath.

The numbers generated by the survey will then be used to estimate the entire population of each zone and, added together, will give a statewide population estimate, said Rob Hossler, manager for the Division’s Game Species Program, noting the results will be a valuable tool in determining the next steps in Delaware deer management.

“Prior to the 2005 population survey, we recognized that the deer population in many areas of the state had expanded to socially and ecologically unacceptable levels, but we didn’t know how many deer we had, or where our major problem areas were located,” Hossler said. “After the first survey we answered both of those questions and now we are excited to see how the population has changed over the past three and a half years. Since that survey, we have instituted some hunting season changes and crop damage assistance programs to help reduce the deer population in these areas.”