Mysterious Deer Deaths Leave Wildlife Officials Puzzled in California

It's a mystery that has wildlife officials scratching their heads. It seems as if deer are dying near a popular hiking spot next to Lodi Lake in California. Now, researchers are wondering what might be causing the deaths.

"It's very concerning to us," said Brena DeFazio, animal services officer, in an interview with CBS Sacramento. "We have not found this many deceased deer in the nature area of Lodi in the time that I've been employed here."

Four carcasses have been found in the last two months, and all of them were reported by hikers passing through the area. Three of the dead deer were discovered along the north trail.

Unfortunately, the remains of the deer were badly decomposed. This means it was impossible to determine the cause of death for the animals. Because there are no known diseases affecting the deer in the Lodi area, the deer deaths remain a mystery.

With that said, there was a report of an ill deer a couple of days before the third deer was found. This could indicate that there is some sort of disease in the area, or that it could be something that the deer ate.

"We don't want this to happen again but if it does happen, we are hoping we can get it as soon after it passes so that they can do the proper testing of the tissue and find out if it died from a disease or if there was any poison that may have been in the area, intentional or unintentional," said DeFazio.

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