Congrats to #Deer665. And to @wyo-migrations.bsky.social for documenting her travels. Details really underscore the hazards that roads and other obstacles pose for migratory animals and why ecological connectivity is so critical to protecting species/biodiversity.
In South Park of #JacksonHole, #Deer665 bounded across busy US 26/191 and passed ranch lands, a golf course, and conservation easements before swimming the Snake River. Then she climbed over the 8,400 crest of #TetonPass to reach summer range.
#Deer665 made it to summer range on Teton Pass in western #Wyoming. Her spring migration was 173 miles long, and took 35 days, including 18 days moving & 17 in stopovers. The last leg after 6/4 involved crossing a 5-lane highway and the Snake River. #deer #nature
That's it for week 4 of #deer665 migration tracking. We'll keep you updated with week 5! ( #deer (Drone clips of Granite Creek by Tanner Warder et. al.)
Thanks everyone for following along, and we look forward to sharing week 4 of the #deer665 migration! (This is her from last November 2024, with her GPS collar in the Prospect Mountains, credit to field technician Phoenix Bennett.) #nature #wyoming #Deer #wildlife
#Deer665 has migrated a long way to reach these slopes of wildflowers, aspen and pine that offer food and security. Raspberry Ridge is one of #Deer 665’s favorite stopovers from previous years. She spent five days here in May 2024, and two weeks in June 2023. (Clip from 2018.)
#Deer665 came within 1/4 mile of the Rim Station on May 23, leaving the Upper Green and entering Hoback Basin (shown in photo). She stayed north of US 191. By May 24, #Deer 665 made it to Raspberry Ridge, where she spent five days on stopover to close out week three of her migration on May 28.
On May 22 #deer665 bounded across the Cora highway WY 352 (shown in this Joe Riis photo) and splashed across the Green River later that day.
From there #Deer665 crossed the Soda Lake Wildlife Habitat Management area on May 21, and passed another bottleneck at Willow Lake. (Deer foraging on lupine near Willow Lake in May 2018, credit Gregory Nickerson - Wyoming Migration Initiative)
Migration tracking week 3: 🦌 #Deer665 migrated 37 miles through the finger lakes near Pinedale, WY to a new stopover in the Hoback Basin. So far she has migrated about 129 miles in 24 days since leaving her Red Desert winter range, with a full two weeks spent in stopover.
So far it looks like #Deer665 is in a hurry to cover ground. Her rate of travel varied from four miles to 10 miles per day. How far do you think she’ll move in the coming week? Twenty, 30, or 40 miles? Leave your guess in the comments and we’ll let you know how she traveled next week!
This migration used by #Deer665 and thousands of mule #deer persists because there is so little development. Access roads are generally gravel with low-traffic. Livestock grazing and targeted conservation have kept the land open, which allows wildlife to move through relatively easily.
#Deer 665’s route is wildlife highway each spring and fall, with braided trails winding through the sagebrush. She’s following well-beaten deer trails marked by scent, scat, and browsing. We can’t know for sure, but #Deer665 is likely moving in a small group. Photo by Tanner Warder/WY Coop Unit.
#Deer665 spent May 18-20 stopped over at the Wyoming Game and Fish Department's Fall Creek Wildlife Habitat Management Area and Pole Creek, which drains Half Moon Lake.
Migration helps them optimize their nutrition, so they can recover from winter, nurse their fawns, grow antlers, and put on fat for next winter. That's #deer665 with the collar in a photo taken in Nov. 2024 by field technician Phoenix Bennett in the Prospect Mountains.
Migration tracking week 2 🦌 #Deer665 trekked 40 miles north to a new stopover in her second week of migration. So far she’s migrated 92 miles in 15 days after leaving her Red Desert winter range — while pregnant with twins!
#deer #Wyoming #wildlife #nature
#Deer665 has a long way to go to reach summer range. This year, as in previous years, she started migration late compared to the rest of the 1,800+ animals in her herd. She travels quickly, making stopovers to forage on springtime plants, and we think she's headed for summer range near Teton Pass.
In 2024 #Deer665 gave birth to twin fawns, but they were nowhere to be seen when she was migrating south last November. Hopefully this year she'll successfully birth and raise her fawns through their first fall migration.
#Deer665 is four years old, and was born in June 2021. We have shared her migrations since summer 2022, when she made an ultra-long distance migration from Wyoming's Red Desert across the Teton Range into Idaho. She is only the 2nd deer from this herd we have tracked across the Tetons.
#Deer665 ended winter with 5.9% body fat and is pregnant with twins. That's her with the collar in this image from last November 2024 by field technician Phoenix Bennett.
For our first-ever post on @bsky.app we're sharing a map of a mule deer on spring migration in Wyoming. #Deer665 started migrating 5/5/25 and made 52 miles to the Prospect Mountains in week 1. We'll share weekly updates until she reaches summer range. #deer #Wyoming #nature
In week 3 of her migration, #Deer665 traveled 40 miles from Boulder Lake across Big Sandy River to the Prospect Mountains. Big open working lands. Compared to last year, she is migrating 16 days later and taking 6 days less of stopover. #KnowYourCorridors
