LanceS4803
Well-Known Member
I had an encounter with a deer this morning that was very, very strange.
Neighbor called to report the deer wandering in circles near the road. When a car would come by, the deer would walk in that direction. By the time I got there, the young 7pt had made it into the woods and was just standing there. (This is a deer I have not seen on my game cams.)
I watched him for a while through the binos and noticed an apparent injury on his side, large patch I thought might be skin hanging. I went into the woods and took a good look at him. It was a just a patch of bare skin with cuts. BUT, he was still acting strange. I saw him walk into trees, get tangles in vines and stumble while walking. His eyes looked fine but it became apparent he couldn't see. If I made a noise, he would turn and start walking towards me, at one point getting within 10 feet.
Due to the fact he couldn't see, he was either going to end up on the road or eaten by the coyotes that hang around, so I put him down. He had been in some fights and had a gash over his left eye, but I couldn't tell if it penetrated the brain cavity. We have 3 very large mature bucks on this property, so he could have had some tought battles. Eyes didn't appear to have cataracts or anything like that. He dressed out fine at 132lbs, VERY healthy deer with good muscle mass and a lot of fat.
While at the processor, was walking about what happened. The guy thought it was just normal rut behavior. I haven't ever seen a rutting buck do this.
Question:
Is this behavior indicative of a neurological problem? Doesn't fit CWD or EHD.
Could he have simply suffered a head injury from fighting?
Is this deer going to be safe to eat?
Neighbor called to report the deer wandering in circles near the road. When a car would come by, the deer would walk in that direction. By the time I got there, the young 7pt had made it into the woods and was just standing there. (This is a deer I have not seen on my game cams.)
I watched him for a while through the binos and noticed an apparent injury on his side, large patch I thought might be skin hanging. I went into the woods and took a good look at him. It was a just a patch of bare skin with cuts. BUT, he was still acting strange. I saw him walk into trees, get tangles in vines and stumble while walking. His eyes looked fine but it became apparent he couldn't see. If I made a noise, he would turn and start walking towards me, at one point getting within 10 feet.
Due to the fact he couldn't see, he was either going to end up on the road or eaten by the coyotes that hang around, so I put him down. He had been in some fights and had a gash over his left eye, but I couldn't tell if it penetrated the brain cavity. We have 3 very large mature bucks on this property, so he could have had some tought battles. Eyes didn't appear to have cataracts or anything like that. He dressed out fine at 132lbs, VERY healthy deer with good muscle mass and a lot of fat.
While at the processor, was walking about what happened. The guy thought it was just normal rut behavior. I haven't ever seen a rutting buck do this.
Question:
Is this behavior indicative of a neurological problem? Doesn't fit CWD or EHD.
Could he have simply suffered a head injury from fighting?
Is this deer going to be safe to eat?
