Unbelievable...I have several other photos of her through out last fall winter and one earlier this summer, but I can't find them all. I sure thought it would have fallen off by now and have been continually amazed that she is actually putting weight on it. It looks like she has reinjured/tore it again, and I suppose there is no feeling in the leg so that might happen often. couple days ago last August these pics are from spots less than 1/8 mile apart...and she has had a fawn with her both years(whether it's hers this year I am not sure).
I can only guess as to how the original injury occurred, but from what I can see in those 2 pics, it's only a matter of time before the infection she's got in that leg kills her. Frankly, I'm as surprised as you that it hasn't already. At the very least, I would have expected her to be easy pickings for any predators in the area. I don't think I would take her for meat, considering the likelihood of sepsis. Sent from my HTCEVOV4G using Tapatalk 2
Look at the leg below the wound. I don't see those same black spots on her other legs. I could be wrong, but my impression is that she already has developed gangrene, and those black patches are necrotic tissue. I see it pretty frequently in diabetic patients. Slightly different etiology, but the end result is the same. Sent from my HTCEVOV4G using Tapatalk 2
It's amazing what these animals can survive. I still don't know how coyotes haven't killed the three legged doe we have limping around our farm yet.
The first pic that I noticed of her late last summer, the leg was just all black and I could not see any swelling as she did at the hoof in the August pic...and now on the knee. This could be result of anything from car encounter and wound, to some sort of insect/tick/spider bite. It seems like something from the brown recluse spiders but they are very rare(usually transported) here, but wolf spiders are common and can cause nasty infections. As for the yotes...yeah I don't know how they haven't got her. They took out 8 deer in 2 weeks last February, but she may have been living in town at the time.
I have this sudden urge to cut her leg off just above the knee, bandage her back up and send her on her way. Maybe I was meant to be an army field surgeon.
The trauma is more than 13 months old from your pictures. She looks very healthy in the latest pictures and if she is reproducing it would prove further she is healthier than you think. My guess is a full recovery. Many deer survive on 3 legs.
