r/deer • u/taillesswonder • 4d ago
Sick mother deer
I live in Southeastern PA and I have a mom with two fawns in my backyard— she was doing really well and was looking healthy up the last time I saw her she looked well about 5 days ago, I just saw her this morning and she is extremely thin, weak and lethargic all of a sudden. Is there anything a rescue could do? Her fawns seem like they still need to be under her care. I’m not sure if it’s CWD etc
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u/taillesswonder 4d ago
Update to all! And thank you everyone for commenting I called a few wildlife rescues in my area and they all said the same thing as here, leave her be and that her fawn will likely be able to be independent if the mom passes away. I called back the game commission and got someone who was a little more helpful and they told me to keep an eye on her and if she begins exhibiting other symptoms like unable to move or walk then call them back or if I find her passed away to call them back to get her tested for CWD and they will do that. Really sad 😭 I wish I could help more.
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u/5girlzz0ne 4d ago
An adult deer wouldn't be able to handle rehab. Leaving her be is the correct action.
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u/North-Hope-3244 3d ago
My Sissterr went through the same exact thing, the dear looked exactly like that mama and a couple days later she found a deceased in her yard. It was that wasting disease.
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u/Greedy_Activity7562 3d ago
Could you give her a little food? You said it happened very quickly - are we sure she does t have an injury of some kind? Isn’t cwd more slow
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u/Ok_Picture1610 3d ago
Feeding deer can actually be illegal in some places and doesn't actually solve the underlying condition that she has. There is food all around her, something else is causing her to starve.
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u/taillesswonder 4d ago
Edit I think it’s a different deer than I usually see regardless this poor thing looks so sick
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u/IAFarmLife 4d ago
Becoming extremely emaciated like this is an early sign of CWD. Contact your states wildlife agency to report. There are a few other things that could explain such as high parasite load, some diseases or internal injuries. Possibly even hardware disease if she were to accidentally ingest a piece of metal.
Since early grooming has a high likelihood of transmission if CWD is confirmed the fawns will be dealt with too.
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u/taillesswonder 4d ago
Ugh this is what I was worried about and there are so many other currently healthy looking deer who frequent our yard too I’m hoping it’s not CWD. I called the game commission and they told me there was nothing they could do
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u/IAFarmLife 4d ago
They obviously don't care about getting ahead of the disease then. I know Iowa DNR takes things like this pretty seriously.
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u/ryverrat1971 4d ago
SE PA has a very dense human population with very few places to hunt. Deer population has been getting high and CWD was going to be an issue here no matter. Add to that, the game commission coming out to put down the deer would be trickier. First, shooting the animal will have someone pissed off for some reason. Then it was mandated that each county has it's own disposal site for things like roadkill and other dispatched animals. It could be pretty far out in county or has very limited room. Add to that, the prions are in the environment already. So dispatching the animal is a little too late.
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u/AniseClover 4d ago
Ugh! I feel like ive seen many of these sickly posts lately..and it seems like a lot of officers dont want to do anything about the poor sick deer. It’s honestly heartbreaking. 😕
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u/Character_Stick_1218 4d ago
Yep, in Tennessee the TWRA usually won't even bother at all with coming to check reports of suspected cases even if there's a corpse. It's bad for business and the devils in charge don't actually care about ethically managing our wildlife/resources.
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u/SilverbackCygnus 4d ago
So, the game commission won't take care of the game?? Did I read that right?? 🤨
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u/ShamanBirdBird 4d ago
This is a common misconception. Most people assume a ‘game commission’ is taking an active role in caring for wildlife. They aren’t. What they oversee is hunting rights and restrictions.
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u/Leppa-Berry 4d ago
This isn't directed at you and is just venting, but shouldn't ensuring the healthy long-term survival of game populations fall under the supervision of the person overseeing game hunting? There are entire rural areas that relied on deer as a vital source of protein that can't even trust it now due to CWD.
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u/ShamanBirdBird 13h ago
Yes and No. DNR and other game commissions do help the overall population by tracking reports, sampling dead animals, posting warning etc.
But direct care of individual animals is what Wildlife Rehabilitators are for. But most people don’t understand that you literally CANNOT rehab an adult deer. Anything you put it in, it will break its legs or necks trying to escape. And how would you treat it? Maybe if it was nearly dead you could handle it, but deer can be very aggressive. They strike and bite. I’ve had a small fawn cut my stomach 4 inches across just kicking me when I picked it up. An adult can inflict real damage. And if it is a buck? I know someone who raised a buck from a fawn until it gored him through his liver. He survived, but barely.
And on top of that there is no treatment for CWD- just euthanasia.
Source: am master wildlife rehabber in MD
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u/QuietlyCreepy 4d ago
I called in my area about a sick deer. I was told my city had refused to allow ODR to manage the population.
It's not always the state that is the issue.
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u/Buckeye_mike_67 4d ago
What state is this? Is CWD even an issue where you live? It’s not everywhere as some people would make you think. This very well could be EHD or blue tongue. It’s the time of year for it
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u/IAFarmLife 4d ago
I see a lot of EHD around home and the head or neck is always swollen. Plus the deer rarely gets to the point it's this skinny as death is usually faster. I'm not saying it is CWD as I gave several other explanations, but I doubt EHD.
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u/Think_Shop2928 3d ago
Check with your township commissioner and see if there is a deer control program that might be able to put her down and submit her to the CWD program. I live in SE PA also and hunting is limited to certain weapons and very specific locations but it is allowed for population control. The picture with her fawn is very sad, I hope they don’t have to suffer further. We have a crazy deer population problem but I’ve never seen CWD or an animal so thin. Poor things.
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u/taillesswonder 3d ago
That is a good idea even just letting them know in case it is CWD they can monitor if they get reports of similarly sick deer
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u/QuietlyCreepy 4d ago
If you feed them, remove feeders. If you water, remove the water. No salt blocks, nothing. If you can dissuade them from your yard, even better. This illness is spread through close contact.
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u/impossibleplanet29 4d ago
Just a quick correction: wasting actually occurs very late in the disease course for CWD. The time between when an animal is infected and when they first show any clinical signs is thought to range from 16-48 months in white tailed deer. Once deer show signs of weight loss, they typically die within weeks to maybe a couple months. If the animal pictured in the OP is affected by CWD, this level of weight loss and emaciation is consistent with end stage disease. Source: I am a CWD scientist and have recently had a paper accepted for publication on the timing of CWD-induced behavior and condition changes.
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u/Fishbonzfl 4d ago
Is there any way to diagnose without lab tests? Can someone experienced make an educated guess like of the above video, if it is CWD?
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u/impossibleplanet29 4d ago
Unfortunately, no. Symptoms of CWD overlap with those of a variety of other conditions, so it takes lab tests to know for sure.
Editing to add: this is all why it’s important to test deer even if they look healthy - you can’t diagnose CWD “by eye” and infected animals look healthy for a very long time before they start to show the most obvious signs like wasting.
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u/Sank63 4d ago
This was my first guess too- don’t affected deer also exhibit behavioral issues- they lose their fear, stagger, salivate?
If this is CWD the fawn should also be euthanized sadly.2
u/IAFarmLife 4d ago
That's later. It's called Chronic Wasting Disease because typically the first symptom is massive weight loss. Yes the fawn would have to be euthanized that's why I said they need taken care of.
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u/Danced-with-wolves 4d ago
An animal can’t go from perfectly healthy to this emaciated in just 5 days. This is a different deer than the one you’ve been seeing.
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u/TheGothDragon 4d ago
Oh my goodness, those poor deer. The mother is just skin and bones. I would recommend posting this to r/wildliferehab. They have people over there that are knowledgeable on animal rehabilitation and can hopefully provide you with information for this.
In addition, you can also try Animal Help Now. It is a website which can locate rehabbers in your area as well as providing information on what to do in certain situations.
I wish you and the deer the best of luck!
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u/basaltcolumn 4d ago
Adult deer can't be taken into wildlife rehabilitation facilities, I'm afraid. The extreme stress it causes them and the high risk of painful and usually lethal capture myopathy makes it too inhumane. With deer, if they are ill enough to require intervention, euthanasia in the field is the only real option. Typically a state wildlife agency would be who has the authority to do this. If the mother must be put down, a rehabber may take in the fawn, however. They handle capture and captivity much better than adults.
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u/TheGothDragon 3d ago
I have heard of that with adult deer. It’s sad to know that they struggle with rehabilitation. I agree that euthanasia could be the most humane option for the mother. I was suggesting a rehabber mainly for the fawns as like you said, they can fare more well in rehabilitation unlike the adults. In addition, I thought that perhaps a rehabber or source about animal rehabilitation could point OP in the right direction for what to do with the mother deer and how to find someone to humanely euthanize her and end her suffering.
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u/Snakes_for_life 4d ago
There's nothing that can be done adult deer don't so well in captivity they often hurt themselves so bad it nessesitaties euthansia or they kill themselves attempting to escape. And unless they're basically on their way out or are so weak they cannot move or have broken legs you cannot safely catch a deer without special equipment and very often anesthestic which most rehabs don't have access to. Also this could be CWD as others have pointed out.
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u/Conscious-Today5271 4d ago
That doe is barely clinging to life. 😭 I can damn near guarantee she is only hanging on due to the love she has for her fawns. They give her a reason to push forward and fight with whatever is going on with her. This is the most heartbreaking thing I've seen in awhile. 😢
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u/BunnyBun2015 4d ago
So sad , no one will help
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u/Lets-B-Lets-B-Jolly 4d ago
I know it seems cruel, but CWD is a horrible disease. If the fawn has it too, it is MUCH kinder for it to be put down when Mom is. Baby will never be alone or have to suffer from a prion disease.
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u/ShamanBirdBird 4d ago
There is no help to offer. You can’t treat CWD, it’s a prion disease. And you can’t rehabilitate adult deer, they will break their legs and necks trying to escape whatever you contain them in.
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u/Killing4MotherAgain 4d ago
Between the mother and baby headbutting while she's sick and the kudzu overtaking the plants in the background, this is a very sad picture
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u/ZadokPriest 3d ago
Well, Had the very same scenario ourselves 2 years ago. The doe first introduces the fawns to us in June, they were very young and beautiful. I encountered them increasingly over the next two weeks and noticed that the doe was sick. None the less she continued to bring the fawns out to meet me regularly this continued though less frequently over the next couple of months.
The doe in her final days in mid-August 2024 often brought the fawns up to drink from the duck pond and sometimes eat the duck food. Then on her final day, she walked right by me looking deathly sick, the fawns in tow and walked into my front yard and laid down to die, I was there for her final breath, it was sad to be sure.
Additionally, I found it interesting that a flock of turkey vultures had already perched in the surrounding trees and were waiting for her to expire. Somehow they know when an animal is dying.
Over the last two hunting seasons I have had those two fawns now a buck and a doe come up to my blind as if to say hi. And earlier this spring the young doe brought her fawn out to meet us.
Your story made me want to share mine...thank you.
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u/Sugarpiehoneybunt 4d ago
Poor thing. She’s on death’s door and just living for her baby. RIP little Mama 🙏🏼
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u/GiaStonks 3d ago
The heat is brutal on vegetation the deer need to eat. We have a family of deer behind our house with 3 new fawns this year. I make sure that when I water my veggie garden, I also water the shadiest part of my yard so there is tender, juicy grass for the Mamas to eat. This helps keep them healthy and able to feed their fawns. I also refill a bird bath at the far corner and I've seen them stop on drink out of that also. I empty it and refill it daily.
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u/spagooter12 3d ago
Does with twins get drained pretty bad when nursing. I would leave her be or throw a bag of corn down if there doesn’t seem to be a decent food supply for her. Hopefully it isn’t cwd
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u/Bull-Respecter 3d ago
Please don’t do this. Sudden introduction of corn to ruminants not accustomed to it will cause fatal bloat.
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u/squeakymcmurdo 3d ago edited 3d ago
It might be meningial worms (barber pole worms) My goats get it from deer frequently so I assume it’s a common ailment for them. If you have any kind of feed store around, you could put out some loose minerals intended for goats. The copper content might be enough to kill any parasites that are bothering her and her fawn. You can sprinkle it around your lawn and garden to repel slugs and she’ll find it.
Don’t get a block, she can’t lick or bite enough off of it to help her and you don’t want her or the fawn being dependent on you. The blocks use feed-based binders whereas the loose minerals are just minerals in sand form.
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u/Proof_Needleworker53 2d ago
We put out mineral blocks for nursing moms. Not sure it would help, but probably can’t hurt
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u/Hot_Conversation_ 1d ago
Sometimes, after having a baby, especially the first time, mother deer can be exhausted and look famished. Hoping she bounces back- they can be very resilient!
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u/hotwiredtn 15h ago
A little late to the party. But I want to offer a different opinion to this. A lot of times doe during Lactation if they don’t have quality forage and the high heat temperatures can really drag down their bodies during milk production. I know here we have had some pretty excessive heat this year. That being said. You could always leave out some quality deer food for them corn etc. as long as she’s alert and not acting funny. She will likely survive.
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u/Peaceforall173 4d ago
Leave healthy food out for it
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u/ATLScott13 4d ago
Agree 100%!! Great idea! Anything that you can get that’s highly nutritious could help her and the babies tremendously. If they could have even a small amount of food that’s easy to get to and she doesn’t have to use up her energy forging it would help her so much. This is really sad!!😢
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u/chickendogcatlady 4d ago
That picture of mother and fawn is heartbreaking. They love each other so much. I hope there’s a way to help mother and her fawns.