Post by jkd on Mar 24, 2008 13:35:38 GMT -5
In thinking about old3arrows experience, something dawned on me that may explain his situation... in humans, one of the symptoms of chronic kidney failure is breath that smells like ammonia...
This is caused by a build up of urea in the blood due to the malfunctioning kidneys, a condition called uremia. In deer, EHD attacks the kidneys, among other organs. My theory is that this deer either had an active case of EHD, or had contracted it in the past and survived with weakened kidney function. Since the reason one's breath would smell of ammonia is from the blood in the lungs having a high urea level, it stands to reason that meat from a deer in a similar condition would smell of ammonia as well.
I asked my dad about this (retired IDNR bio) and he said that could well be the case, or also that the deer may have gotten into an area recently treated with herbicide or pesticide of some sort, which could also have affected the kidneys.
In any event, I think the timing of the kill and the lactation thing probably didn't have anything to do with the smell, but rather the kidney malfunction. Bottom line is that meat was not edible as old3arrows stated, due to the urea.
I will send a note to some of our current deer biologists and see if there is any other similar evidence of EHD relative to the smell of the meat...
This is caused by a build up of urea in the blood due to the malfunctioning kidneys, a condition called uremia. In deer, EHD attacks the kidneys, among other organs. My theory is that this deer either had an active case of EHD, or had contracted it in the past and survived with weakened kidney function. Since the reason one's breath would smell of ammonia is from the blood in the lungs having a high urea level, it stands to reason that meat from a deer in a similar condition would smell of ammonia as well.
I asked my dad about this (retired IDNR bio) and he said that could well be the case, or also that the deer may have gotten into an area recently treated with herbicide or pesticide of some sort, which could also have affected the kidneys.
In any event, I think the timing of the kill and the lactation thing probably didn't have anything to do with the smell, but rather the kidney malfunction. Bottom line is that meat was not edible as old3arrows stated, due to the urea.
I will send a note to some of our current deer biologists and see if there is any other similar evidence of EHD relative to the smell of the meat...
