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Just kidding Summer Coat?

Just curious on what everyone's thoughts are on what is up with this deer. Just losing summer coat or something else? Sorry title should be " Just losing summer coat?

Does not look healthy to me

I shot this doe last year. It just had long curly white hair. I have a few more running around this year again that look like that.

demodectic mange

Agree with D T. I'd think mange.

Thanks for the feedback. I concur on the mange and no I ask. Do you shot this deer to prevent it spreading to the rest of the herd or let it walk and see if Mother Nature takes care of it??

I would shoot it to put it out of its misery. It's immune system is compromised and why the mites are going gang busters and hair loss.

If I get a shot at it, I will probably put an arrow into it. Just sucks that it will not make it to its second birthday either way. Maybe the bobcat that we have on the property or a coyote will take it out of it misery. Not sure what I would do with the meat if I harvested it legally. I am not sure I am going to eat the venison from it.

Call your warden and ask him to stop by and show him the pictures. See if he can issue you a tag to harvest it.

Mange is really bad this year. k9's got hit especially hard this summer.

That is what I am going to do. I am going to call the game warden in Adams county. I will see if I can meet him Saturday sometime.

Double post sorry

Let us know what the warden says. this is the deer in the first pic that i shot. It just had longer white hair and didn't look sick or anything close up.

Let us know what the warden says.

I have 3 different deer on camera in late August that were already starting to change from summer to fall/winter coat.

I talked to the state wildlife biologist and she looked at the pictures I sent her. She does not think it is the mange, the deer looks healthy at this point. I am suppose to keep an eye on the deer and if it starts looking sick, I can send some pictures and they will issue a tag to take it out. She also told me as the weather gets colder, she is thinking the coat will grow back. She thinks it is his hormones playing fits with his coat, mites/ticks, alopecia or some other parasites. I am going to see on the deer looks as the season goes a long and hope it regrow its hair.

I have a couple deer on camera, and have seen one in person several times that have this funky coat too. Besides the odd looking fur, you would never think they have any sort of problems. Healthy weight, muscle tone, and movement.

I hope it is just that odd looking fur and nothing else.

Hear is what I heard back from Lindsey Long, DVM, DACVPM with the WDNR on the buck with the weird coat: When I look at this image, to me it actually looks as if what you are seeing is the “plush” layer or under hair layer of the fur. Basically, the guard hairs look as if they aren’t present. If that is what this deer is exhibiting, the most common cause on the sides like in the image is typically excessive grooming. There can be many different things that could cause that: ectoparasites in or on the skin or abdominal pain would be highest on my list for free-ranging animals, in captivity it can occur as a neurologic response to captivity. Obviously, that is just a professional guess based on a picture.

I have not seen pictures of him in the last week, so I do not have much of an update on how he looks.

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