Bedbug wrote:Very interesting stuff. Thanks for sharing! Seeing how very knowledgeable you are in this field.
Do you have an opinion on atmospheric pressure in relation to Deer activity?
Also I've noticed occasionally changes in activity that correspond to calm mornings with a very high dew point but no other distinct weather to blame. Would a high dew point or "humidity" change the viscosity of air to the point that it would flow differently?
I mean wet ground equals quite movement. I consider that partially to blame. But do you think the high moisture could change air flow in any way that makes the deer act differently than they do on a dry calm morning?
You know I'm still trying to figure out myself if pressure changes really affect deer behavior or if it's just the weather changes that are associated with them. Seems like a lot of people when they talk about pressure changes they'll say something like "we had a cold front push through last night and the pressure is rising today," maybe under the impression that that's not always the case. In general, pressure is always going to rise behind a cold front because the air is cold and sinking down to the ground behind the front, therefore creating high pressure. Is it the temperature change that deer react to, is it the pressure? I don't really know. But I will say that I don't know any part of the deer anatomy responsible for detecting pressure changes. They have pretty much all the same organs as we do. So with that in mind maybe pressure is not such a big factor and it's more of a temperature thing. Don't run me out of town for saying that but that's just my intuition.
Now as far as humidity goes, water vapor has a relatively similar viscosity to dry air. They are going to differ slightly but not enough to have a major impact on the turbulence of the air. In my mind the biggest factor with humid conditions would be the fact that water molecules will catch your scent molecules much more efficiently than just air. It's going to benefit the deer in humid conditions because different odors are going to be transported more efficiently. On cold days it will be a bit less efficient because the air is more dense and tends to sink but still more so than a dry day. Hopefully that answers your question!