A little side track… please indulge me.
On the way home from our Girl Scout staff reunion, I spotted this poor mule deer. Well, he crossed the road right in front of me, so he was hard to miss! I thought at first that he was covered in burdock… but that wasn’t the case.
He seems to be covered in warts. They circled his neck, and were scattered along his body. The flies seemed to be harassing him as well. He walked away, constantly shaking his head.
He would rub his face in the dirt as well.
When I arrived home, I contacted the game warden’s wife… and she passed along the sad news to her husband. I felt very sorry for this young guy… but if this is a viral thing, I also don’t want him sharing with other deer.
I haven’t heard if they’ve found him… but I hope so. It looks like he’s had a miserable life for quite a while.
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Poor guy
Yes, please let us know if you hear what happens with this dear animal.
Keep us posted if you hear anything
Thanks so much for noticing this deer and for making time to contact the game warden’s wife.
Let us know when you find out.
Very sad looking young deer. Hope the game warden might catch him and see if
there is a treatment to help.
Very sad looking your deer. Hope the game warden might catch him and see if
there is a treatment to help.
Cutaneous Fibroma looks right. Reading up on it, it sounds as if it goes away on it’s own at some point, and they don’t think it can’t be transmitted to people or other types of animals. Still, that guy looks like it’s making his life miserable.
Found this when I searched for ‘skin diseases in mule deer’. Not much known about it.
https://www.dfw.state.or.us/wildlife/health_program/fibromatosis/index.asp
that’s sad, hope the game warden found him, there’s chronic wasting disease in the mid-west, not sure how far it spreads, but you don’t want something that would harm other livestock-