blind

[Stephenbuck2489]

seen this young lady outside the window at work today. litterally touching distance.
her white eye is white and glazed over. i assume to be blind as she was very undeterred at me moving around. only the sound of banging about had her attention.
just wondering how common blindness was in roe and how much this impairs there day to day buisness?
other than the eye she seemed relatively healthy. beautiful shine on her coat in the sun.. not looking to skinny.
im no professional. but from my linited knowledge, judging by her small size im assuming shes a young doe not long been turfed out. (please correct me if im wrong) these are the things i want to learn .

She was very relaxed. just nibbled around the grass, then curled up in the sun next to that hedge for 2 hours. really is a privilege to get to be so close and observe.

 

[mark2853118]

I think that feeding on rape can cause vision impairment in some deer

 

[Stephenbuck2489]

I think that feeding on rape can cause vision impairment in some deer

we have no rape anywhere near us. plenty shite quality grass qnd some veg

 

[VSS]

I would assume that deer can suffer from the same types of eye diseases that sheep and cattle do (pinkeye/New Forest eye) or something similar?
These cause temporary blindness, but where the damage caused by the infection is severe the blindness (or semi blindness) can be permanent, with the eyes remaining cloudy, as in the OP photo.
In some cases these infections can be spread by flies (I think?) and in other cases spread by animal to animal contact (eg, at feeding troughs, which is why it'll often suddenly flare up in housed sheep and infect the majority of animals in the group). Animal to animal contact is not a likely route of infection in wild deer.
I think listeria can also cause the same symptoms (known as "silage eye" in cattle, as soil contamination in silage is a common source of infection).

 

[ChrisWill184]

Funnily enough I shot 2 roe bucks like this one season a few years ago. Exactly the same as what you see in your photo. They were absolutely fine though I was able to get up a bit closer than normal to watch one of them. Both were older animals but other than that, no issues.

 

[nick.308]

it looks blind only in its right eye? Its left looks quite normal in the picture.

 

[Stephenbuck2489]

it looks blind only in its right eye? Its left looks quite normal in the picture.

yeah only the right eye.. left eye looked bright and normal

 

[kieran222]

This isn't uncommon. I have come across plenty blind in one eye. I would imagine it's generally due to injury, running through hedges,etc. Never even considered any other reason.

 

[weblyish]

known 2 dogs both lose an eye to grass seeds or other vegetation getting behind the eye - would be very surprised if it didnt happen to deer as well