Diseases personally found in Deer

pheasant sniper 1

Well-Known Member
This has been a hot topic of conversation between some friends at various times recently and is currently running under a TB thread on the forum..

So the question is..

What diseases have you personally recognised/encountered over the years..

I have a friend that has only witnessed two diseased deer in thirty years..

What are your own accounts over the years you have been stalking??

Regards

Terry
 
What are you condsidering as disease Terry?

I have found Avian TB, bacterial infections in lungs, Pleuricy, Tumours.

I take it we are not counting liver fluke, nasal bot, warble as I would term them infestations.

This could be an interesting post :)
 
Hi Jingzy

Probably good to include not just notifiable diseases... Interested to hear what diseases/infestations our members have encountered and specifically if possible in how many deer over how many years..

ATB

Terry
 
Thanks fella

I was really looking for some feedback on diseased deer experiences encountered over the years of stalking but infestations can be added..

I have only personally encountered parasitic disease,liver fluke and some extremely enlarged joints probably down to septic arthritis..

From the many conversations ive had it seems incredibly rare to come across a diseased deer as opposed to one carrying an infestation

ATB

Terry
 
Hi Terry, This is a subject that really interests me as I have been involved both in eradicating TB from a deer farm and investigating cases of high mortality in upland wild Red Deer herds in the past.

Some parasitic infestations are common here such as warbles, keds lice and ticks with liver fluke (2 types) also regularly seen. Nazal bots can bee seen in about one third of Reds shot here. Infectious diseases such as pleurisy, peritonitis and nephritis are less common but seen every year as is liver abscessation. Tumors of liver,pancreas and bladder I have noted especially in older animals. But by far the commonest findings are traumatic injuries usually sustained by males fighting. I have seen lots of facial fractures in SikaStags which have healed well.

The most interesting case was a Roebuck I shot in thefirst week of October. This animal was a mature beast surprizingly still in velvet and in good condition but had a stiff front leg. The leg had a non-union fracture at the elbow with a discharging sinus. When it was boiled out lo' a copper bullet jacket could be seen partially surrounded by new bone. This specimen is now with the DCS.

I must add though that in the wild if an animal were to contract an acute, severe disease then we would be unlikely to find or shoot it . It would seek thick cover to die so I think we only see the tip of the ice berg and observations are skewed to the non-fatal problems. David
 
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Hi David..

Its also something that i would be very interested in especially if given the oportunity in helping to eradicate and investigate cases as you have been involved in..

Your figures and the cases of parasitic infestations have suprised me..

I have a sika stag up in the hallway which i posted the pictures up some time ago.. On boiling out the discolouration remained deeply embedded in the bone.. Various suggestions were offered at the time..

Warmest Regards David

Hope we can meet up in the year

Terry
 
sick deer

I have shot around 40 roe in total. Of these I have had 2 with significantly enlarged mesenteric nodes although no other obvious symptoms. 2 with pronounced aladins slippers (one which could barely walk 5m) and one with a really "pappy" heart.
I have also shot 2 fallow down south, both exhibiting liver fluke.
 
most of the deer have large holes in them put it down to lead poisoning which lead to a fast death / no all the deer i have shot have appart from one which was blind in one eye in verry good conditon overal and one which had a crossbow bolt in its leg
 
Hydronephrosis!
Shot a roe last night with Hydronephrosis.
See deer welfare section for further details and some photos.
MS
 
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