All males in mating groups were active and had normal (euthermic) body temperatures (ca 32°C [16]).
More than a third of the females found in mating groups were torpid, and the majority of these had mated.
Four of the females found torpid in mating groups were radio tracked and were observed to re-enter hibernation; three of these were later found in mating groups while euthermic and had fresh sperm recovered from their tracts.
A maximum of five and a minimum of three sires (mating groups) were considered in each mating year.
The mating groups were created by dividing the foundation flock into five groups at the beginning of the breeding program.
Population structure is implemented as variance in infection frequency between mating groups, which is a fraction of the total variance in infection frequency p 1- p).
These mating groups can be found in both shallow and deep water but more often gather near shore.
Forty-eight were found while slowly driving around the property in a 4WD vehicle, 22 (5F, 17 M) were found in mating groups when we were tracking other animals.
In ten of the mating groups the female was torpid and reacted slowly to stimuli; body temperatures of these torpid females ranged from 10 to 29°C.
In this setting, increasing the variance in infection between mating groups will necessarily be disadvantageous for the spread of infection, because it is associated with a more homogeneous infection within demes and hence a reduced frequency of incompatible matings.
