Funny you bring that up. Jaycee mentioned the Hamilton area and I have been living and hunting in Ancaster for the last 14 years and the population is a fraction of what it was compared to just 4 years ago. About 6 years ago while on a February hike in the deer wood close to home I came across a freshly (still warm) aborted deer fetus. I took it home and placed it in a ziplock and put it in the freezer and contacted a biologist with the MNR at the university of Guelph and they wanted me to bring it in ASAP and I did.
Art Timmerman was his name and he was a nice gentleman and very happy that I contacted them and brought in the fetus. I asked that they keep me informed on what they found and he assured that he would.... Nothing but crickets, even after repeated phone calls and emails asking for an update.
I contacted a Veterinarian friend and he advised me that it is VERY rare for a deer to abort a fetus and said that a fetus would normally be re-absorbed into the deer's system if she was under stress from starvation or other factors. He suggested it could be Brucellosis , a disease that affects ungulates but he was not aware of it being found in Ontario except in a wild Bison herd in North western Ontario.
One of the main symptoms of Brucellosis is aborted fetuses and it could be transmitted to humans and I shouldn't of touched it without gloves. In humans it's called undulant fever and can be serious with no real cure but the MNR would still not respond to my requests for info. Any way I didn't contract it but still went for a blood test just to be safe.
Here are some pics from that day.
How I found it
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j1...aylor/deer.jpg
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j1...ylor/deer3.jpg
Its a boy
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j1...ylor/deer4.jpg
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j1...ylor/deer5.jpg
Not saying it is the case but if the local deer herd was infected with brucellosis and many does aborted fawns that could be an explanation for the low numbers around the Dundas valley ,Ancaster and Hamilton areas.
Having said that , the population was way to high and is likely closer to the proper carrying capacity and this will likely make for a healthier deer herd.
