Much to my surprise, I found this healthy looking deer floating in my pond yesterday. (The curious Egret came for a closer look as well) She obviously had only been in there a short time, so I pulled her out to see if I could figure out what happened. I could find no signs of injury or gunshot but I noticed blood coming from her nose. I called a friend of mine who is a game warden and he said that this time of year deer sometimes get sick with a hemorrhagic virus spread by gnats. This causes them extreme thirst so they almost always are found in or near water when they die. Interesting, learn something new everyday.

Wow. Not even bloated yet.
Bury it deep.

Yeah, I'm out there every day so it had to be from the night before.

Is it a doe or a buck?
EDIT: I guess the bucks should have antlers now.

Is there any sign of trauma?

Deer are very good in water and never stops them even at -15C.

They do head to water when hit with a bow or shot gun.

Kind of a shame but natures way. Sure would've looked good on my butchering table. Bob-Os way to thin the herd.

Injured or sick deer commonly go to water - I am an avid hunter for years and have seen a few that were wounded and ended up dying in ponds -

That's what the game warden said as well. It definitely died soon after getting ill as she looked to be in good shape otherwise. From research I have since done on these hemorrhagic viruses, some can kill within only a couple of days after contracting, and only affect white tailed deer.

I think it was Growing deer TV that had some comments on the nat thing and the deer. I herd of it but not ever seen it.

Along the same line....A couple weeks back I noticed a hawk sitting at the edge of the pond. It sat there all day. The next morning it was still there. As I was watching, it fell face first into the pond and quickly drown.

Crazy. Makes you wonder how much we DON'T see going on out there!

Excactly!

I noticed gnaw marks all around the lid and food outlet holes on my moultrie 5 gallon feeder. That critter did not mind hanging 4' out over the water.
Makes me want to have an alligator.

Coons, if I had to guess. I've seen them get quite creative trying to get into my feeder.

[/quote]
Exactly!
I noticed gnaw marks all around the lid and food outlet holes on my moultrie 5 gallon feeder. That critter did not mind hanging 4' out over the water.
Makes me want to have an alligator.
[/quote]

Time to put a trail camera up...

Coons are very intelligent when it comes to food and water. When we lived in Fl, there was a park we used to camp/kayak out of. The place was overrun with coons. They'd become very proficient at turning on water faucets to drink. They just never bothered to turn them off, tho!!

I found a GBH dead and floating last year. And no we did not shoot or kill it. It was something I never thought I would see at the pond.

I found one of those also.
Autopsy report showed lead poisoning.
Must of been a shootout at a different pond.

+1 on the hunter experience of a hurt deer going to water.
It's possible it caught a glancing blow from a nearby vehicle before ending up in your pond.

Not surprised. Those GBH are sketchy characters and often are involved in dust ups such as you described. Just be thankful that they left their trail of mayhem at "the other pond."