CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME 275 



domestic sheep and one steer were found dead near the water hole, so 

 that it was evident that other animals besides deer were affected. 



Our investigations were continued at Spaulding's Reservoir, where 

 deer were dying apparently from the same malady. At the latter place 

 I examined the stomach of a doe that had recently died. The examina- 

 tion showed that the heart, liver, and lungs were normal, but that the 

 stomach had ulcers from three-fourths to one and one-half inches long 

 and nearly as wide, over one-third of its inner surface. 



On September 24 our investigations were continued at Hackamore 

 Reservoir, which is located about eight miles due north of Happy Camp 

 ranger station. When full, Hackamore Reservoir covers about three 

 hundred acres, and it is shown on the Forest Service map as being on 

 national forest land and not on privately owned or patented land. 

 This reservoir had apparently been made by sheepmen to catch snow 

 water in a shallow basin, so as to provide water for their flocks. The 

 dam which holds back the water is made of earth and faced with rock. 

 It was found to be about one hundred fifty feet long and ten feet high 

 at the highest point. At the time of our visit, the water was practically 

 dried up, there being only a mud bog about one hundred feet long and 

 twenty feet wide with a shallow sheet of water which M^as very foul and 

 filthy, with decayed vegetation located at one end. Within a distance 

 of one-fourth of a mile from this water hole we found dead deer as 

 follows : adult does, 26 ; yearling does, 3 ; adult bucks, 2 ; yearling 

 bucks, 2 ; fawns, 28. A total of 61 deer had died within a quarter of a 

 mile of the water hole. It will be seen from the above that does and 

 fawns suffered much more severely than did the bucks. It was found 

 that a four-point buck and a large doe had waded out into the pond 

 and had eaten mud, the water being so nearly dried up that they could 

 not get any to drink. We carefully inspected the stomachs of these, 

 deer and found that they were over half full of mud. Vegetation found 

 consisted of service berry leaves (20 per cent) and manzanita leaves 

 (20 per cent). The intestines of both the buck and the doe contained 

 only mud. Forage plants in this vicinity had been severely brow^sed, 

 service berry bushes having been browsed to a height of fifty inches. 

 Manzanita bushes, being the least desirable, were about the only plants 

 left. 



From our investigations, which revealed as many as sixty-one dead 

 deer at one water hole, we concluded that several hundred deer had 

 died in the Modoc region during the one summer. Representatives 

 from the State Veterinary Office, Bureau of Animal Industry, as well 

 as local physicians, examined the deer that had died but failed to agree 

 on the cause of their death. On cutting open numerous deer that had 

 recently died, including one large four-point buck (see Fig. 105), I 

 found that there were well-marked points of infection at the roof of 

 the mouth and particularly at the base of the back upper molar teeth. 

 A further investigation showed that the infection had spread from this 

 point and had involved the optic nerve, which accounts for the blind- 

 ness noted in some of these diseased deer. 



From recent investigations in California and elsewhere (see W. M. 

 Rush, Northern Yellowstone Elk Stuchj, 1932, p. 55, published by Mon- 

 tana Fish and Game Commission) it now seems fairly certain that the 

 "Modoc" deer disease was caused by infection of wounds or mechanical 

 injuries in the mouths of the deer by an organism known as Actinomyces 



