East-Heart decomposure
Metamorphosis of roadkill on a threatened peatland My last slideshow on Taashuyee-Chookan.aani (M-word Wetlands) was inspired by the first northbound…
2024 | Richard Carstensen | 16-minute slideshow
The JuneauNature logo perhaps reveals my bias concerning Odocoileus hemionus hemionus—Sitka black-tailed deer—the most beautiful animal in the world. I was recently reduced to hanging out with its inferior cousin, O. virginianus, for several years in my old family home of upstate New York. Granted, whitetails have more flamboyant posteriors and are lovely animals in their own right. But a 40-year quest for Guwakaan, known in Lingít as the peacekeepers, has rendered me incapable of objective comparison. Sorry Easterners, your deer are deformed. 
Sitka black-tailed deer on Kupreanof Island, July, 2003, with soft-tipped antlers still in velvet. High-pointing rack indicates a mature-but-young buck, probably 3.3 years old.
In this section
Decomposition on motion-cams: phases 3&4
Deer cemeteries on Sayéik, spirit helper (Douglas Island) Back in mid-May, I reported on a motion-camera study Steve Merli and…
July, 2020 | Richard Carstensen | 9 minute slideshow
Decomposition on motion-cams: phases 1&2
How a deer dissolves Steve Merli and I have slightly refocused our motion-cam deer study from behavior of live deer…
2020, May | Richard Carstensen | 6 minute slideshow
2003 winter newsletter: A deer’s map of the forest
New ideas about forest structure Seeing the forest through a deer’s eyes. Thoughts on forest structure and habitat values, resulting…
Winter 2003 | Richard Carstensen | 12 pages
Wild food
Wildlife photography on northern Tàan, sea lion (Prince of Wales Island). I was hosted by Don and Andrea Hernandez at …
2017 | Richard Carstensen | 2 minutes
When we’re not there
Studying wildlife with trail cams Special emphasis on deer, using motion-sensor cameras for both story-telling and quantification. Presentation to the…
2018, updated 2025 | Richard Carstensen | 21 minute narrated slideshow
2006 winter newsletter. Sitka deer: Thoughts and field notes
Excerpts from 25 years of journals Feature on Sitka black-tailed deer: habitat relations, stotting, mountaintop bachelor gangs, differential wariness of…
Winter 2006 | Richard Carstensen | 12 pages