274 CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME 



DISEASES 



MODOC DEER DISEASE 



In the middle of August, 1924, reports came to the California Fish 

 and Game Commission that deer were dying in large numbers in the 

 central portion of Modoc County, just east of INIount Shasta. At the 

 request of the Commission, I proceeded at once to this locality and, 

 together with game wardens Miller and French, went thoroughly over 

 the ground in question. 



The general situation we found to be as follows: The area con- 

 cerned lies largely in the lava bed formation where even under normal 

 conditions forage is scarce and water scarcer. In order to provide a 

 larger water supply, stockmen had created artificial reservoirs by 

 building dams and holding back the water wliich accumulated from 

 melting snows in certain natural shallow depressions, the permanent 

 natural springs in the region being very few, of limited capacity, and 

 scattered over a wide area, as much as 15 to 30 miles distant from each 

 other. Our investigations show^ed that the deer which were found dead 

 or dying w'cre all in the near vicinity of the artificial reservoirs which 

 served as water holes both for domestic stock and for deer. The season 

 had been one of unusual dryness, and both forage and water supply 

 had become almost exhausted through the grazing of domestic animals, 

 particular!}' sheep. As soon as the sheep had begun to die, the}' had 

 been moved out of the country to better range, but the deer were left 

 to shift for themselves as best they could. 



Our first stop was made at Lower Mud Lake. This lake normally 

 covers ten or fifteen acres, but at the time of our visit (August 18, 1924) 

 it was found to cover less than half an acre and to be nearly dry. Here 

 I found three dead deer within 100 feet of the water. These were two 

 adult does and one spotted fawn. All had been dead for over ten days, 

 but they had not died at the same time. One dead domestic sheep was 

 found near the water's edge. Thirteen dead deer were counted about 

 this pond. 



Our next step was to visit an area at Happy Camp, where we knew 

 there was a spring of permanently good water, to see if deer were 

 dying there also. Our tour of inspection showed no sick or dead deer 

 in the vicinity of Happy Camp. We then went back to Lower Mud 

 Lake, where Warden Miller and I, in half a day's hunt, found seven 

 more dead deer, as follows: two large four-point bucks, one three-point 

 buck, one spike buck, two does, one spotted fawn. All of these deer 

 were found within 250 yards of Little Mud Lake, which was nearly 

 dry. These deer had been dead from one to four weeks. They had not 

 all died at once, and each one was found lying headed away from the 

 water. They had apparently become so weakened that they had fallen 

 down and had not been able to return to their search for food after 

 visiting the water holes to get a drink. 



The country for miles around this water hole had been heavily 

 "sheeped" so that food was difficult for the deer to secure. One 



