The story in Saturday's Record-Bee concerning the deer in Lakeport with numerous tumors on its body has drawn widespread attention. Just about everyone is concerned with the welfare of the unfortunate deer. It also goes to show just how tough life in the wild can be. When wild animals get sick they can't go to the doctor or even get any kind of treatment. They either recover on their own or die.
This deer wouldn't last long in the Mendocino National Forest as a predator would have likely taken it by now. By being in a residential area the deer has managed to survive. How long is anyone's guess.
Most deer live less than eight years in the wild although they can live as long as 15 years in captivity. Years ago I spent a lot of time with a wildlife biologist from the Department of Fish and Game who was considered an expert on deer. He told me many deer die from either an infection or from tooth problems. On one trip with him through the Mendocino National Forest he checked a number of hunters who had bagged a deer. We looked at the teeth of the deer and in many cases the teeth were worn down to the gum line. These deer varied in age from two to five years old. In fact, a number of deer had abscesses and their jaws were swollen. Can you imagine the pain the poor animal was in? The biologist said the reason for the abscesses was that deer often pick up sand and grit with their feed and it wears down the teeth.
Foxtails also get caught in their teeth, which in turn leads to an infection. A study done by the University of California in Lake and Mendocino counties showed that only one fawn in 10 lives to be a year old. Disease and predators are the reason. Wild bears are another good example. Studies have shown that less than 50 percent of bear cubs live a year and only 75 percent of those that survive their first year make another year.
Coyotes are another good example. Many suffer from distemper much as domestic dogs do. However, a coyote never receives a vaccination such as a dog and it usually dies. The other major factor is when an animal such as a deer gets sick it has to hide to avoid predators. Mountain lions and other top predators are always on the lookout for sick or injured animals.
It's rare for a human to see a sick animal. In fact, hundreds of wild animals in Lake County die each day and we never see their remains or even their bones. Take birds for instance. The birds we see flying around or at our backyard feeders are the healthy ones. The sick ones find a place to hide and try to recover. Most don't survive.
When an animal dies other meat-eating animals utilize its remains. A good example was a few years ago when scientists at the University of California Hopland Field Station found a deer that had been recently killed by a mountain lion. They set up some cameras to see what animals, including the lion, would feed on the carcass of the deer. Within a few days the carcass was completely consumed. Not only did the lion return to feed on the deer, but so did other animals, including skunks, raccoons and possums. Mice and other rodents feed on the bones. This answered the question of why we rarely see a dead carcass in the woods.
Many species of wild birds live a long time. For example, the longest a Canada goose has ever lived is 23 years. The same is true for a Mallard duck or a Great Blue Heron. Wild turkeys have lived as long as 12 years. On the other end of the spectrum, the longest recorded life of a house wren is seven years.
Thousands of years ago humans also had a short life span. At one time most humans lived less than 50 years. However, advances in medicine have extended our life expectancy by decades. Also, when we get sick we don't have a mountain lion stalking us looking for an easy meal.