12 Deer Found Dead, Human-Provided Food Believed To Be Cause

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — The New Hampshire Fish and Game Department says 12 deer have been found dead in South Hampton, most likely the victims of eating human-provided foods.

They were found Friday in two groups in some woods in South Hampton. Necropsies on eight of them indicated they had died from complications caused by winter feeding.

Two deer were brought to the University of New Hampshire Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, which concluded there was evidence of a condition caused by a rapid change in diet. Daniel Bergeron, Fish and Game deer biologist, said there was evidence of corn, hay and what appeared to be pelleted grain eaten by the deer.

"All of these can be detrimental to deer when suddenly introduced in the winter," he said.

An adult doe found dead in Dover in February is also believed to have died from supplemental feeding.

The department urges the public not to feed deer. A rapid change in diet to human-provided foods high in carbohydrates can reduce their ability to properly digest food, or release toxins that are absorbed into the deer's system.

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