Southeastern US

White-tailed deer

In the eastern US, white-tailed deer have made a remarkable comeback. Nearly extirpated by the end of the 1700's as a result of the deerskin trade, during the 20th century nearly every state in the southeastern US undertook deer restocking efforts. A remarkably successful restoration story to the point that today over 6 million deer are harvested each year in the US.

While they have made a range-wide comeback, in some portions of their range there are concerns about deer populations. In particular, the relatively recent arrival of coyotes and growing populations of invasive wild pigs to portions of the southeast has raised concerns about deer in some areas undergoing declines. We have undertaken a series of studies to the dynamics of these three species and how managers can achieve desired management outcomes. Our ongoing research involves the use of large exclosures to experimentally test the impacts of coyotes and wild pigs on white-tailed deer and the broader wildlife and plant community in South Carolina.

Project collaborators: South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, U.S. Forest Service, QDMA

Popular press about this project:

Understanding the deer-coyote dance - South Carolina Wildlife Magazine

Coyotes and wild pigs may be hijacking deer feeders - The Wildlife Society

Hunter gut piles subsidize coyotes and make other carnivores wary - The Wildlife Society

Wild pigs complicate deer movement in hunting season. Here’s what to do. -National Deer Association

National Deer Association podcast on initial findings from our study showing blackberries could be key to reducing fawn predation

Related scientific papers:

Jensen, A.J, M. Muthersbaugh, K. Brogdon, C.R. Ruth, J.W. Butfiloski, J.C. Kilgo, J. Adams, L. Waits and D.S. Jachowski. 2026. An omnivore’s options: Altered predator behavior during periods of overlapping resource pulses. Ecosphere 17:e70282.

Muthersbaugh, M., C.R. Ruth, J. Cantrell, J.W. Butfiloski, E.R. Saldo, B. Ross, J.C. Kilgo, and D.S. Jachowski. 2025. Evaluating potential altered harvest and predator management strategies to increase white-tailed deer population growth in South Carolina. Journal of Wildlife Management 90:e70127.

Muthersbaugh, M., W. Boone, A. Jensen, E.R. Saldo, C.R. Ruth, J. Cantrell, J.C. Kilgo, and D.S. Jachowski. 2025. Multi-scale maternal behavioral responses by white-tailed deer to coyote predation risk. Journal of Wildlife Management 90:e70122.

Muthersbaugh, M., E.R. Saldo, A.J. Jensen, C.R. Ruth, J. Cantrell, B.E. Ross, J.C. Kilgo, and D.S. Jachowski. 2025. Responses of a large herbivore to predation risk are modulated by intrinsic and extrinsic factors. Ecosphere: e70252.

Muthersbaugh, M., W.W. Boone, E. A. Saldo, A.J. Jensen, J. Cantrell, C. Ruth, J.C. Kilgo and D.S. Jachowski. 2024. Maternal behaviors influence survival of ungulate neonates under heavy predation risk. Ecology and Evolution 14:e70151.

Saldo, E.R., A.J. Jensen, M.S. Muthersbaugh, J.W. Butfiloski, J. Cantrell, C. Ruth, G.K. Yarrow, J.C. Kilgo and D.S. Jachowski. 2024. Unintended consequences of wildlife feeders on spatiotemporal activity of white-tailed deer, coyotes, and wild pigs. Journal of Wildlife Management 88:e22644.  (One of the journal's 10 most cited papers in 2024!)

Jensen, A.J, M. Muthersbaugh, C.R. Ruth, J.W. Butfiloski, J. Cantrell, J. Adams, L. Waits, J.C. Kilgo and D.S. Jachowski. 2024. Resource pulses shape seasonal and individual variation in the diet of an omnivorous carnivore. Ecology and Evolution e11632.

Jensen, A.J., E.A. Saldo, Z. Chapman, J.W. Butfiloski and D.S. Jachowski. 2023.  Risk from a top predator and forest structure influences scavenging by smaller carnivores. Ecosphere 14:e4596.

Saldo, E.R., A.J. Jensen, M.S. Muthersbaugh, J.W. Butfiloski, J. Cantrell, J.C. Kilgo, C. Ruth, G.K. Yarrow and D.S. Jachowski. 2023.  Spatiotemporal overlap with invasive wild pigs (Sus scrofa) varies by species and season. Ecosphere 14:e4500.

Jensen, A., C. Marneweck, J. Kilgo, and D.S. Jachowski. 2022. Dietary plasticity of a rapidly expanding carnivore: Coyotes in North America.  Mammal Review 52:480-496.

Elk

Once extirpated, elk are on the rebound in the southeastern US, with multiple states reintroducing elk and now maintaining sizeable elk herds. Kentucky, for example, contains as many elk as Yellowstone National Park. Yet some reintroduced elk herds are small and struggling to expand as they come into conflict with humans. We are studying ways to help advance and sustain elk restoration on multiple fronts.

In North Carolina, we are working with the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians to develop ways to help mitigate human--elk conflict on the boarder between Great Smokey Mountain National Park and the town of Cherokee.

We are also researching social and ecological conditions for future elk restorations in other portions of the Southeast to help facilitate reintroduced elk range expansion and population growth.

Project collaborators: Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians, North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, National Park Service, Wildlands Network.

Black bears

Black bears were nearly extirpated in the southeast, but have recovered to be the most abundant large carnivore in the world. In the mountains of South Carolina, where bears only started to return in the 1980's, we are looking at questions related to patterns in abundance of bears across the upstate, investigating new ways of monitoring and estimating the abundance of our expanding black bear population (and other carnivores).

As a recovering apex carnivore in this system, we are also interested in how black bears influence the behavior and distribution of other species. In particular, as the dominant large carnivore, recent research has shown that when and where black bears are most active has the potential to shape the structure and function of smaller carnivore communities. We are using large-scale camera trapping network to identify how black bears influence the behavior of other carnivores in space and time.

Project collaborators: South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, US Geological Survey

Popular Articles:

Beyond the feeder: The surprising science of black bear predation - Boone and Crockett Club

From barbed wire to big data - Boone and Crockett Club

Related Scientific Papers:

Nettles, J.M., C.M. Abramowitz, W.W. Boone, S.N. Harris, C.E. Horton, M.P. Keating, D.L. Nelson, S.N. Smith, K.N. Steen, E.K. Buchholtz, and D.S. Jachowski. 2026. American black bears (Ursus americanus) as an apex predator: Investigating the ecological role of the world’s most abundant large carnivore. Mammal Review 56:e70014.

Azad, S., K. McFadden, J.D. Clark, T. Wactor and D. Jachowski. 2019. Applying spatially explicit capture-recapture models to estimate black bear density in South Carolina. Wildlife Society Bulletin 53:500-507.

Azad, S., T. Wactor, and D. Jachowski. 2017. Demographic trends of a harvested black bear population in northwestern South Carolina. Ursus 28:56-65.

Azad, S., T. Wactor, and D. Jachowski. 2017. Relationship of acorn mast production to black bear population growth rates and human-bear interactions in northwestern South Carolina. Southeastern Naturalist 16:235-251.

Bobcats

While largely not the topic of focused translocation and restoration efforts, bobcats have found a way to recolonize much of the Southeast, even adapting to live near humans on highly developed barrier islands. Yet their recovery is not secure. In 2021 we initiated a multi-year project to assess the ecology of bobcats on islands - particularly Kiawah Island where there are concerns regarding population declines. Kiawah island is home to one of the most famous and well-studied bobcat populations that was decimated by the emergent use of anticoagulant rodenticide to control rats on the island. Findings from our work on Kiawah bobcats have changed state policy on the use of rodenticides, and led to regional monitoring efforts to better understand the impacts of rodenticides on recovering carnivore populations more broadly.

Project website: Island Bobcat Research

Project collaborators: Town of Kiawah, Kiawah Island Conservancy, Clemson University, South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, Tom Yawkey Wildlife Center, Oregon State University, Penn State University

Recent Related Scientific Papers:

Keating, M.P., C.M.B. Jachowski, D.R. Diefenbach, J.D. Jordan, N.M. Nemeth, T.R. Rainwater, G.K. Yarrow, and D.S. Jachowski. 2026. Anticoagulant rodenticides contribute to a decline in an urban carnivore. Animal Conservation.

Keating, M.P., T.R. Rainwater, R. Singh, M.R. Priore, S.G. Platt, P.M. Wilkinson, T. Levi, C.M.B. Jachowski, and D.S. Jachowski. 2025. Bobcat predation on American alligators in coastal South Carolina. Southeastern Naturalist 24:N28-N37.

Keating, M.P., E.A. Saldo, J.L. Frair, S.A. Cunningham, R. Mateo, and D.S. Jachowski. 2024. Global review of anticoagulant rodenticide exposure in wild mammalian carnivores. Animal Conservation 27:585-599.

Williams, A., L. Waits, J. Adams, and D.S. Jachowski. 2023. Dietary overlap of sympatric terrestrial mammalian carnivores in coastal impoundments of South Carolina. Southeastern Naturalist 22:481-497.

Beavers

Once extirpated from most southeastern states, beaver reintroductions during the 20th century have led to the widescale reestablishment of this important ecosystem engineer. Beaver, through their dams, create wetlands that are host to a myriad of species. But beavers also create management concerns, leading to their often lethal removal. Removal of beavers is often only a short-term solution, as other beavers tend to move in shortly after the removal of a problem beaver. We are working with partners to identify ways of managing beavers through water flow devices and other means that provide long-term solutions to human coexistence with beavers. A technology that is not new, but has not been rigorously tested in the southeastern US.

Project collaborators: US Department of Agriculture, Clemson Extension

Small carnivores

We love a challenge, and prior to research accomplished by our team and others over the past decade, the status of of small carnivores in the southeast was largely a mystery. We have conducted a series of studies on weasels and spotted skunks at multiple field sites from West Virginia to Florida, that have highlighted the little understood ecology of these often reclusive carnivores.

We are not only learning about the ecology of these species, but developing new tools to help us better understand where small carnivores persist, trends in their populations, and reasons behind declines over the past several decades.

To help kickstart restorative action, we have co-founded the Eastern Spotted Skunk Cooperative Study Group in 2015 and North American Weasel Working Group in 2021 which are dedicated to enhancing communication, research and conservation action on these imperiled species.

Collectively,

Project collaborators: US Geological Survey, North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, Virginia Tech, Nemours Wildlife Foundation, South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Forest Service

Related Popular Articles:

The middle-out ecology movement - Animal Ecology in Focus

Community-level responses of African carnivores to prescribed burning - The Applied Ecologist

Herbivores, lions in South Africa exploit fire benefits - The Wildlife Society

Related Recent Scientific Papers:

Potash, A.D., Conner, L.M., Lashley, M., Chandler, R., Cherry, M., Edelman, A., Garrison, E., Gore, J., Greene, D.U., Gulsby, W., Hallett, M., Harris, S.N., Jachowski, D.S., Taillie, P., and R.A. McCleery. 2026. Biogeography and anthropogenic development shape mesopredator distributions in a rapidly developing region. Journal of Biogeography 53:e70147.

Bergeson, S. M., R. Kays, D. S. Jachowski, C. D. Anderson, C. R. Williamson, A. Burket, J. W. Butfiloski, A. E. Cheeseman, S. R. Cotey, C. C. Dennison et al. 2025. Efficacy of baits and lures for weasel detection. Wildlife Society Bulletin e1580.

Harris, S.N., E.A. Flaherty, E.L. Hewett Ragheb, T. Doonan, and D.S. Jachowski. 2025. Dietary of the Florida spotted skunk (Spilogale putorius ambarvalis) in a dry prairie ecosystem. Mammalian Biology, https://doi.org/10.1007/s42991-025-00481-3.

Cheeseman, A.E., D.S. Jachowski, and R. Kays. 2024.  From past habitats to present threats: Tracing North American weasel distributions through a century of climate and land use change. Landscape Ecology 39:104.

Jachowski, D.S., S.M. Bergeson, S.R. Cotey, E. Croose, T.R. Hofmeester, J. MacPherson, P. Wright, C.A. Calderón-Acevedo, A.C. Dürst, G.B. Egloff, M.K. Hamed, P. Hapeman, S.N. Harris, K. Hassler, J. Humbert, D. Karp, R. Kays, J. Mausbach, D.J. Morin, J. Mos, S.S. Allué, L. Smith, J.P. Twining, C.R. Williamson, and K. Zub. 2024. Non-invasive methods for monitoring weasels: Emerging technologies and priorities for future research. Mammal Review 54:243-260. (One of the journal's 10 most cited papers in 2024!)

Jachowski, D.S., C.J. Marneweck, C. Olfenbuttel, and S.N. Harris. 2024.  Support for the size-mediated sensitivity hypothesis within a diverse carnivore community. Journal of Animal Ecology 93:109-122.
Jachowski, D.S., R. Kays, A. Butler, A.M. Hoylman, and M.E. Gompper. 2021. Tracking the decline of weasels in North America.  PLoS ONE 16:e0254387.

Harris, S.N., T.J. Doonan, E.L. Hewett Ragheb and D.S. Jachowski. 2023. Home range, movement and activity patterns of the Florida spotted skunk (Spilogale putorius ambarvalis) in prairie habitat. Mammalian Biology doi.org/10.1007/s42991-023-00380-5.

Siegfried, A.C., S.N. Harris, C. Olfenbuttel and D.S. Jachowski. 2023. Effects of sardines as an attractant on carnivore detection and temporal activity patterns at remote camera traps. Wildlife Research doi:10.1071/WR22196.

Siegfried, A.C., S.N. Harris, C. Olfenbuttel and D.S. Jachowski. 2023.  Den site selection of eastern spotted skunks in North Carolina. Mammal Research. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13364-023-00703-4.

Dukes, C.G., D.S. Jachowski, S.N. Harris, M.L. Allen, L.E. Dodd, A.J. Edelman, S.H. LaRose, R.C. Lonsinger, and D.B. Sasse. 2022. A review of camera trapping methodology for eastern spotted skunks (Spilogale putorius).  Journal of Fish and Wildlife Management e1944..

Marneweck, C., C. Forehand, C. Waggy, S. Harris, T. Katzner and D.S. Jachowski. 2022. Nocturnal light-specific temporal partitioning facilitates coexistence for a small mesopredator, the eastern spotted skunk.  Journal of Ethology 40:193-198.

Harris, S.N., J.L. Froehly, S.L. Glass, C.L. Hannon, E.L. Hewett Ragheb, T.J. Doonan, and D.S. Jachowski. 2021. High density and survival of a native small carnivore, the Florida spotted skunk (Spilogale putorius ambarvalis) in south-central Florida. Journal of Mammalogy 102:743-756.

Butler, A., A. Edelman, R.Y.Y. Eng, W.M. Ford, S. Harris, E. Thorne, C. Olfenbuttel, and D.S. Jachowski. 2021. Demography of the Appalachian eastern spotted skunk (Spilogale putorius putorius). Southeastern Naturalist 20:95-109.

Jachowski, D.S., and A. Edelman. 2021. Advancing small carnivore research and conservation: the Eastern Spotted Skunk Cooperative Study Group model. Southeastern Naturalist 20:1-12.

Harris, S.N., C. Olfenbuttel, and D.S. Jachowski. 2021. Canine distemper outbreak in a population of eastern spotted skunks (Spilogale putorius). Southeastern Naturalist 20:181-190.

Small mammals

The southern Blue Ridge Mountains of North and South Carolina is a plant and animal biodiversity hotspot in North America that has been identified as the top priority area for conservation action in the US. To inform the extent to which restoration action is needed, we are trying to fill natural history, distribution, and community ecology knowledge gaps about a suite of small mammals (shrews, moles, voles, mice, woodrats, and rabbits) of high conservation concern.

Some of the last strongholds of these habitat specialists were recently devastated by Hurricane Helene, leading the need for immediate and focused restorative action. Our ongoing research is focused on providing the knowledge on what forest management conditions are conducive to recovering Allegheny woodrats and other imperiled small mammal species.

Project collaborators: South Carolina Department of Natural Resource, North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, US Forest Service.

Project collaborators: South Carolina Department of Natural Resource, US Geological Survey, North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, Virginia Tech, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Forest Service

Related Scientific Papers:

Fink, M. and D.S. Jachowski. 2025. Comparison of three camera trap designs for sampling small mammals. Mammal Research, https://doi.org/10.1007/s13364-025-00780-7.

Harris, S.N., M.W. Hook, T. Waldrop, and D.S. Jachowski. 2024. Use of latrine surveys to identify the expansion and fragmentation of swamp rabbit (Sylvilagus aquaticus) distribution at the eastern edge of their range. Mammalia, https://doi.org/10.1515/mammalia-2024-0090

Bats

Bat populations are in desperate need of restoration as they face a number of threats, most recently with the arrival of white-nose syndrome. In the Southeastern US, we are working to evaluate strategies for monitoring increasingly imperiled bat species. The Southeast Bat Hub is located at Clemson University where we assist states in the region with implementing, reporting and analyzing acoustic monitoring data.

We also conduct focused studies on the ecology of individual species of conservation concern. Most recently, we started a multi-year field study of the response of bat communities to the extensive forest damage caused by Hurricane Helene. The goal being to provide recommendations on how to manage habitats and guide forest restoration efforts to recover imperiled bat species.

Project Collaborators: U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Geological Survey, Virginia Tech, South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, National Park Service

Related Popular Articles:

U.S. Forest Service taps Clemson for storm recovery efforts - Clemson News

Clemson researchers race to save bats from deadly fungal disease - Greenville Journal

Recent Related Scientific Papers:

Sirajuddin, P., S.C. Loeb, E.R. Britzke, and D.S. Jachowski. 2025. Winter torpor patterns of tri-colored bats (Perimyotis subflavus) in the southeastern U.S. Journal of Mammalogy 106:468-478.

Newman, B.A., S.C. Loeb, and D.S. Jachowski. 2024. Thermally unstable roosts influence winter patterns in a threatened bat species. Conservation Physiology 12:coae014.

Bombaci, S.P., M.J. St. Germain, W.M. Ford, S.C. Loeb, R.E. Russell, C.A. Dobony, and D.S. Jachowski. 2021. Context dependency of disease-mediated competitive release in bat communities following white-nose syndrome. Ecosphere e03825.

Newman, B.A., S.C. Loeb, and D.S. Jachowski. 2021. Winter roosting ecology of tri-colored bats (Perimyotis subflavus) in trees and bridges. Journal of Mammalogy 102:1331-1341.

Shute, K.E., S.C. Loeb, and D.S. Jachowski. 2021. Summer roosting ecology of northern yellow bat and tri-colored bat in coastal South Carolina. Southeastern Naturalist 20:459-476.

Shute, K.E., S.C. Loeb, and D.S. Jachowski. 2021. Seasonal shifts in nocturnal habitat use by coastal bat species of conservation concern. Journal of Wildlife Management 85:964-978.