Mother Deer has Dislocated Left Rear Leg. How Long will she Last ?

[St. Phatty]

I have a family of deer enjoying my rose-bushes.

Which is good, they needed trimming anyway !

I was running the camera when the 2 babies had their heads tucked under her belly, getting their milk.

The one pic here shows the mom limping in front of my outdoor kiln, with one baby in the background.

I'm hoping they found refuge in one of my side yards.

They have lots of water & food in my yard, and are partially protected from the mountain lions, because the big cats avoid human areas most of the time.

I estimate & am hoping that the mother deer lasts 2 months.

Seems like a Tragedy - and it is for that family.

But it is natural, and there are 2 babies to take the mother's place when the inevitable happens.

 

[armedoldhippy]

they are a lot tougher than we realize. i've seen them running through the woods with only three legs before. watched a big buck limping so bad (left front leg) that we considered shooting him out of season, to put him out of his misery. next thing you know, he's crossed the road & bounded up a 60 degree bank along the highway like it was nothing. when on top of bank, back to limping... if she could not run, coyotes would probably have killed her already. Mother Nature takes no prisoners, and has no sympathy.

 

[St. Phatty]

they are a lot tougher than we realize.

Might LOOK tough to us, but they have to have ALL their health to evade a predator.

Just sorry to see that that doe is marked for slaughter.

Just hope her children will have another 4 or 6 weeks to put on the size & muscle they will need to outrun their mother, and the animal that kills it.

I found a deer leg less than 50 yards from the house & hung it on an apple tree.

Then something took the deer leg, even though it was just bone.

 

[Capt.Ahab]

I'm sometimes amazed by the healed wounds on some of the deer I have shot.
Three legs, broken and healed bones, bullet wounds, car impacts, broadheads from years earlier.
They are tenacious and recover and live from wounds that would easily kill a human.

 

[armedoldhippy]

i talked to a state biologist here at checking station at Oak Ridge NL. he told me that nearly every single bear he examined post-mortem had healed broken legs from, apparently, falling out of trees. they'll climb a white oak/apple tree, pick a branch, and walk out until it breaks, riding them to the ground...