The Bellyachin’ Doe

20 Years Ago: Mastitis? Abdominal hernia? The worst tumor? Whatever this doe had, it wasn’t a good thing. These trail-camera shots were taken in Bartow County near Red Top Mountain State Park in May 2004.

In the wild, animals come down with ailments, just like people, but there’s no treatment at a hospital or animal clinic. Nature’s way is to heal or become a meal.

A pair of trail-camera photos of a doe with a big belly problem were captured in southeastern Bartow County about a mile from Red Top Mountain State Park. Casey Taylor, of Acworth, was running the camera behind his family’s house, and his dad, Shelby, shared the photos with GON readers.

“We talked to biologists with WRD, and they said it could be a severe case of mastitis (inflammation of the mammary glands), but it would be by far the worst case of that they’ve ever seen.”

Other possibilities cited by a WRD biologist were an abdominal hernia where the intestines and guts dropped down, or even an outrageous tumor.