A white-tailed deer was found stumbling through the streets of Farragut, Tennessee, with thick hair sticking out of the two eyeballs.
The hair protruded from the flesh discs that covered both the cornea of the dollar, the transparent part of the eye that covers the iris, and the pupil.
The bizarre condition, called corneal dermoids, has been documented only in one more white tail in the state of Tennessee, according to Quality whitetails magazine, the magazine of the National Deer Association.
A dermoid, by definition, is a type of benign tumor made up of tissues that usually appear in other parts of the body; in this case, complete skin tissue with hair follicles cut into the cornea of the deer.
Hairy-eyed deer “might be able to see the day from the darkness, but I wouldn’t think I’d be able to see where it was going,” said Sterling Daniels, a wildlife biologist with the Wildlife Resource Agency. Tennessee (TWRA). Quality whitetails.
“I’d compare it to covering your eyes with a bath towel. You could say day to night, but that’s all.”
The deer itself tested positive for epizootic hemorrhagic disease (EHD), which can cause fever, severe tissue swelling, and loss of fear in humans, according to Cornell Wildlife Health Laboratory.
This may explain why the disoriented animal wandered down a suburban street in late August 2020 and seemed unaware of nearby people, Quality whitetails reported.
However, the disease does not explain why the deer’s eyes caused hair to grow.
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Furry skin spots probably formed early in the animal’s development, while still in the womb, Dr. Nicole Nemeth, an associate professor in the Department of Pathology in the Wildlife Disease Study Unit Southeastern Cooperative (SCWDS) Veterinary University of Georgia. school, he said Quality whitetails.
Instead of successfully becoming a clear cornea, the tissue formed follicles of skin and hair, hiding the eyes from the growing deer.
Under the thick hair, the deer’s eyes contained all the expected anatomy.
Despite being born with corneal dermoids, the dollar had lived for more than a year and even grew its first antler set before taking EHD, which has no treatment, Quality whitetails reported.
Because deer survived so long, Nemeth said the dermoids probably “gradually developed,” allowing the animal to adapt to its decreasing field of view over time.
“How fast [dermoids] developing over time is probably not well known and can vary from case to case, ”Nemeth said. Quality whitetails.
Humans can also develop dermoids in the eyes and cause hair to grow in the eyeballs, according to Live Science. The disease is uncommon, so an ophthalmologist can only see one or two cases in their entire career.
Not all of these dermoids cover the center of the cornea, as in the case of deer; some dermoids form at the intersection of the cornea and the white part of the eye, called the sclera.
In this case, the disease can cause blurred vision, but it does not usually cause extreme vision problems, Live Science reported.
Dermoids can be removed for aesthetic reasons, but their removal usually does not improve patients ’eyesight.
(You can learn more about the case of furry deer at Quality whitetails magazine.)
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This article was originally published by Live Science. Read the original article here.