Buck With Hairless Patches Likely Had Mange

Weston Hall with his Lee County buck that was hairless over large patches of its body. The buck likely had demodectic mange caused by mites.

Most people who think of a mangy dog will think of filth, poor health and contagiousness. Well, if you see a deer on your trail camera that looks like a mangy dog, you will probably think that it is best to cull the deer.

Weston Harrell was called on to do just that for his dad’s friend who started getting camera pictures in November on his Lee County farm of a mature 8-point with nearly total hair loss. When Weston and his dad Stephen walked up to the buck after the kill shot, they found the deer to be apparently healthy other than the patchy hair loss all over the face, body and legs.

Charlie Killmaster, the Georgia state deer biologist, said, “Weston’s buck most likely had demodectic mange (demodicosis) which is fairly common. I hear about several cases a year, but I am not worried about it since it is not a herd problem.”

Demodectic mange in whitetail deer is caused by a species-specific type of mite called Demodex odocoilei that can burrow into the hair follicles. There are different species of demodex mites that affect other animals like dogs and cats, but the mites do not cross over to other animal species (so people cannot be affected, nor can a dog get demodex from a deer or a cat or any other species of mammal). Though the mites are contagious from deer to deer by direct contact, very few deer exposed to the mites actually show clinical symptoms of hair loss (also called alopecia).

“Deer with healthy immune systems should be able to clear the mites without a problem,” informed Killmaster. “The deer that are affected probably have had some stressor to weaken the immune system (like rutting activity), making them more susceptible to the mite’s ability to cause alopecia. But even these deer that are affected should eventually recover with complete hair regrowth as long as they are healthy.”

Though the coat of a mangy deer looks unsightly, the meat is unaffected and safe to consume. Killmaster advises that it is best for people to contact the local WRD Game Management office to be sure though.

“The deer findings that freak people out the most, like skin conditions and tumors, worry me the least. I’m more focused on herd problems than individual issues. The deer that worry me the most are the ones with neurological signs and/or emaciation because those may indicate major population concerns; definitely don’t eat the meat of deer like that, and please report it to Game Management.”

Contact information for WRD Game Management Region Offices: Region 1, 706.295.6041, 2650 Floyd Springs Road, Armuchee, GA 30105; Region 2, 770.535.5700, 2150 Dawsonville Highway, Gainesville, GA 30501; Region 3, 706.595.4222, 4176 West Bypass Road, Thomson, GA 30824; Region 4, 229.426.5267, 1773-A Bowens Mill Highway, Fitzgerald, GA 31750; Region 5, 229.430.4254, 2024 Newton Road, Albany, GA 31701; Region 6, 912.262.3173, 1 Conservation Way, Brunswick, GA 31520.

Some people may wonder about how these deer with extreme hair loss will fare in the cold weather. Killmaster believes that the relatively mild winters of Georgia will probably not cause a healthy, well-muscled deer with alopecia to freeze to death, but in the northern states, hair loss can be a death sentence.

Should these deer be culled? “Since it doesn’t create a population health concern, I don’t advise shooting a deer with mange just to get it off the property. You can leave it alone and not have to worry about mange clinically spreading to a lot of deer,” explained Killmaster.

He went on to say that although demodicosis may be linked to some genetic factors, too, the clinical symptoms of hair loss most likely arise from a combination of factors: stress, immunosuppression, environmental conditions, concurrent illnesses and even hormones.

Other fur/skin conditions may be seen on deer in Georgia, but the two most likely causes besides mange are normal seasonal molting (changing from summer to winter coats in the fall and from winter to summer coats in the spring) and Dermatophilosis. Dermatophilosis (also known as rain rot) is a skin infection from the bacteria Dermatophilus congolensis. This condition usually arises during warm, wet periods and creates more of a bumpy skin appearance with oozing lesions rather than generalized hair loss like is seen with demodex. Since Dermatophilosis is a contagious bacterial infection to all mammals, it is recommended to not eat the meat and use gloves if contacting the skin. A healthy whitetail with Dermatophilus should clear the infection on its own when the weather gets cool and dry.

As a take-home message, do not assume that a deer with hair loss is noncontagious. To be safe, please contact your local game management office if you see anything unusual about a deer’s appearance or behavior.

Congrats to Weston on his unusual and impressive Lee County buck!