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was definitely established on July 12, 1924. Keane (p. 50) states: 

 "The outbreak among these wild animals was due to spread from 

 infected cattle * * *." This point needs to be stressed for future 

 reference. At the request of our State Fish and Game Commission, I 

 proceeded to Niagara Creek, to determine positively that the native 

 mule deer actually had contracted the disease. This fact was definitely 

 attested to by both Dr. Day and Dr. Snyder. On September 2, 1924, 

 on Niagara Creek I examined a dead doe that showed characteristic 

 sloughed patches between the two parts of each hoof, and also slight 

 lesions of the gums and other parts of her mouth. The same day I 

 examined and photographed the feet of a dead forked-horn buck. The 

 hoofs of both front and hind feet of this buck were nearly ready to 

 drop off (see Fig. 106), as they had sloughed at the base, and showed 

 conclusively that this deer had a bad case of foot-and-mouth disease 

 when he died. Examination at this time showed that in *' clean" deer 

 the dried hoofs of dead deer remain firm and show no signs of slough- 



PiG. 106. Foot of dead California mule deer buck showing presence of foot- 

 and-mouth disease. Niagara Creek, Stanislaus National Forest, September 2, 1924. 

 Mus. Vert. Zool. No. 4532. 



ing. Investigation showed that the disease was wide-spread among the 

 deer of the region, 30 per cent of 43 deer killed at this time showing 

 infection, and that there was danger that the deer might spread the 

 disease up and down the Sierra Nevada with gravest consequences. 

 An attempt was made, while the infected area was small, to kill all the 

 deer on the limited area by use of strichnine mixed with salt and placed 

 on salt logs after all domestic stock in the immediate region had been 

 destroyed. Prior to this 3400 cattle and 3000 head of sheep were killed 

 and buried on account of the disease, within a radius of a few miles. 

 As the disease continued to spread among the deer, an intensive cam- 

 paign to eradicate the epizootic in the known infected area, which 

 eventually covered about 1000 square miles, was begun on December 1, 

 1924. In this campaign a total of 22,214 deer were slaughtered and 

 examined by veterinarians. Of this number, 2279 showed lesions of 



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