It all started at the end of February. Out of curiosity, I had moved my wildlife cameras a few weeks in advance. I always do that when I “think” that I have had all the local deer on camera. A camera was placed next to a lick stone in a forest consisting of poplar and hazelnut bushes. One day I received a photo of a very weakened goat via this wildlife camera. I could easily notice that the goat was weakened since there was a kit next to it. The ribs of the weakened goat were clearly visible, as well as the legs and the pelvis that was very angular. In addition, the coat was gray, she had very few hairs on the mirror and a posture that gave the impression that the goat was walking with osteoarthritis. It was very clear to me that this goat was eligible for culling. But still several questions haunted my mind. Did she have any kits? Could it be an older goat? What was the reason that she is so weakened? Where is she hiding?
Several sittings passed fruitlessly. During two sittings, however, I get a sight of the goat in question. But every time she outsmarted me. However, the30th of March was the day, I decided to sit down earlier. This was because I had to cross a lot of land and I wanted to bridge this distance without disturbing too many deer. Arriving at the place from where my chances were highest, I had a grassy meadow behind me and in front of me the forest where the goat in question came to enjoy the lick. A few minutes passed and the first sight was already there. Some deer passed me to lavish on the meadow. She was clearly not there, these deer were all nice and brown. A good 150 meters behind me there was also a piece of corn of about one hectare in size. We always leave these to provide the resident game with food. Suddenly I hear deer trotting through the corn. A deer has been startled by something or other. It is a buck, I take the rifle scope to inspect the antlers more closely. At the same time, a deer walks out of the corn, across the meadow, into the forest. This deer is accompanied by another deer. This is her, this is the deer I’ve been chasing for so long. There was no doubt about it. Grey, skinny and stumbling around. While the first deer has long since disappeared in the forest, the weakened goat is not even half gone. I decide to let her come closer to a good 50 meters and then stop her. The cross behind the shoulder and the animal was put out of its misery. What a poor thing, this shouldn’t have lasted much longer…
Once desecrated, I discovered that she was still a carrier of one embryo. Her teeth were badly worn, the intestines intact and the stomach half filled with green mush. It is very difficult to observe why the deer was so weakened. Her gutted weight was only 12.9 kilos. Know that adult goats in our area weigh between 18 and 20 kilos. Because we could not determine the cause and the deer was very emaciated/weakened, we decided not to consume it. We therefore thought it best to give them to the vilbe hatch.
