Max McGraw had an insatiable curiosity about the natural world, and through the Max McGraw Wildlife Foundation he tried to encourage that same curiosity and activism in others. As a result, McGraw is known worldwide as a leader in wildlife research and education. Much of its work has been done in cooperation with federal, state, and local agencies, which recognize the expertise of our scientists. In its early years, McGraw concentrated on the science of raising gamebirds in captivity, in hopes of sustaining huntable populations of pheasants, partridge, quail, and waterfowl. The groundbreaking techniques developed on the property still guide

White-tailed deer respond well to urbanization, and often become locally overabundant. At times, their numbers can cause ecological degradation to natural habitats and present a threat to human safety through collisions with vehicles. To manage deer populations, many agencies use mathematical models to make management decisions for local deer populations, but one critical component of those models — fawn survival — is often unknown. With the rise of coyotes within the Chicago region, it is possible that coyote predation may affect deer recruitment in urban preserves. We began monitoring fawns and adult deer in Cook County forest preserves in 2013