What do you think is wrong with this deer

[corky]

Picked up my cameras this weekend and found these pictures.  Not sure what is wrong with this deer, but seems to be losing all of it's hair and has small tumors in various places on it's body.

[Cody Gruchow]

tumors are a little strange, but the deer is just growing in its fall coat, thats why it looks all splotchy with 2 different colors of hair. going from reddish, light brown to its call coat of darker brown

[dakids]

cody is right on the hair thing and the tumor looks like a wood tick.

[Cody Gruchow]

dakids, the middle pic on the back leg in the middle its alot larger then a tick, it looks like a growth of some sort

[BigDog]

That deer is loosing hair not growing hair. In the spring time when they are shedding their winter coats they tend to look "splotchy". I would say that it has some sort of disease.


"Deer hair loss syndrome (DHLS) causes a deer to lose its hair for unknown reasons. At first, a deer may have dark or almost black patches of hair, but then the hair may turn yellow or white or the deer may have bare patches of skin. "In the later stages, a deer can be very thin and lethargic, with excessive loss of hair," according to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. Scientists know that hair loss can occur on a deer due to rubbing and chewing on fur that is infested with lice. An infestation of muscle worms or a faulty immune system may also contribute to hair loss."

[corky]

I got more pictures of it than I posted and it has the tumors on several places.  It definitely is losing it's hair with all the darker areas being just skin.  Here is another picture that shows a couple of the tumors a little better with one on it's throat and one on it's back.  When I zoom in on the pictures, I can see at least a dozen over it's body.  I'll be curious if it is still alive come deer season.

[Cody Gruchow]

i can see the tumors. i guess your right, the first pic does show hair loss. its very interesting, sure dont look like a healthy deer

[corny13]

The tumors look BLACK..my guess its melanoma that has spread and I would doubt it will live very long.  I know horses get melanoma, so Im sure deer do also....People with widespread metastatic cancer will lose their hair even without chemo or radiation when end stage.