Summer 2023
Article and photos by Susan Lindsley
When I began to routinely feed corn for the deer and wild turkey that came into my yard, I documented their behaviors and photographed as many events as I could. Over time, I could differentiate does by either body, leg or facial color patterns. One of my favorites came into the yard one afternoon with a pair of fawns skipping and dancing around her. I began to call her “Big Mama.”
Her third year as a visitor, she appeared on July 1 with a large swelling on her face; I figured it to be a massive abscess. She also carried numerous ticks, but she somehow must have injured herself beyond tick bites. Maybe she cut herself with her hoof as she swiped at the ticks.
Big Mama suffering from the abscess.
In July, bucks were still very much in velvet, so the initial injury was not from an antler. Although the yard deer reared at each other to dominate the food supply, I had never seen one slash another with a hoof in their disagreements. A lifted head with ears back was enough for the dominate deer (doe or buck) to make the other skedaddle. I concluded she had swung her head accidentally into a barb on the fence or a stob on a tree. I saw no evidence of a bot fly on her face, and the swelling did not resemble the open papilloma I had seen on another deer.
That summer saw her last visit to the yard. She was becoming gaunt even with the abundant supply of corn as well as fresh growth of browse on the land. She did not show up for their favorite: the abundant yard persimmons.
On May 16, 2021, I noticed swelling on the underside of a buck’s jaw and concluded it was an abscess since it showed a small bit of pus draining. He is BJ, of the Bad Jaw. I don’t know the cause of the infection/abscess; perhaps an impacted tooth. By June 24, the draining had stopped and the swelling enlarged. His rack had reached 9 points, the 4-point side on his left, along with the apparent abscess.
September 5, his jaw still protruded, but no longer drained and the pus sites healed over. He visited my yard several times in early deer season and failed to return after firearms season opened.
The abscess on the 9-point buck.
Death for deer is usually neither swift nor pleasant – some die in fences; some become victims of predators and are torn apart; some are smashed by vehicles or trains, and some, like Big Mama, waste away from infections or illness. The fortunate ones die a merciful, quick death at the hands of a skilled hunter.
A member of the Georgia Outdoor Writers Association, Susan Lindsley of Decatur has authored numerous books about deer and wildlife, as well as novels, short fiction and nonfiction. For more details visit her website. She can be reached at yesterplace@earthlink.net.