What would make a deer look like it has oranges in each side of it's cheeks? Also, it looks very thin...?

Question

So, Some friends of mine saw a deer out on their land and they said it looked like it had oranges in it's cheeks, like a chipmunk? Also they said it looked malnutritioned. The only thing i could think of was maybe it had been shot with an arrow through the mouth, the arrow broke off, and now it can't eat? Does this sound reasonable or does anyone else have any suggestions? What should we do to help it? We've done lots of research but cannot figure anything out...

Answer 1

The deer shows signs of Johne's Disease, pronounced.. (yo - knees) The look of malnutrition coupled with the abscessed lymph node, or "bottle jaw" on the cheek area is typical of Johne's disease. Usually effecting cattle, deer and elk can contract this disease from farmland, mainly from contaminated water or pasture puddles which harbor the disease. The outcome is death, usually from malnutrition..
type in ....... johnes.org. this site will give you alot of info on this disease.
http://www.luminet.net/~wenonah/new/jones.htm

Answer 2

It may be severely diseased. I've seen that in one other case, where tourists were hand-feeding deer "Fiddle Faddle" out of the box -- real good, nutritious food, huh!? The poor deer had that exact same look, with the puffy cheeks and ribs showing. I tried to explain, but . . .

It is an unfortunate situation and may not be caused by the same thing, but there really is not much you can do. Your only hope would be to capture the deer, which is probably NOT a great idea if it is sick. Animal rescue is probably not going to come out and start trying to track it down for you, sorry.

Answer 3

What you suggested sounds possible.You might want to contact animal control or the DNR and report what you saw.Poor thing.

Answer 4

yes I agree, look up Johne's disease

Answer 5

ive not seen that b4,but id shoot it & feed the meat to the dogs i dont like....just in case its tainted