Ever watched that show Dr. Pimple Popper? The woman treats all sorts of abnormal growths that people get and the results often look like a teenage nightmare in the form of the world's biggest zit. It turns out many wild animals experience many of the same problems, such as cysts, warts, fibromas, or abscesses. In nature, many animals end up getting these same forms of cysts, warts, fibromas or abscesses. Due in part to their susceptibility to biting insects like ticks, horseflies and mosquitoes, deer seemingly fall victim to these growths more than many other animals, especially during the summer months.
Those bites often become infected and fill up with puss to create noticeable growths, many of which are more debilitating to deer and even have the ability to kill them. In the following video from Team Realtree, we see a young buck with an infected growth on the side of his head that he inadvertently pops when trying to scratch it. We'll warn you now, though, don't watch this during your lunch break, as it's a little hard on the stomach.
Realtree Associate Editor Josh Honeycutt captured this footage during a deer hunt in Kentucky. Talk about being in the right place at the right time to capture such a rare sight! It looked gross from the angle shown in the video, it was probably even worse had the deer's left side been facing the camera. Popping that growth led to a strong flow of fluid out of the side of his head.
It's impossible to know for sure what's going on here, but we are guessing this was either a cyst or an abscess. Sometimes these growths can be caused by injuries endured during fights with other bucks. Based on the placement of the growth, we think that may be how this buck came to suffer this nasty injury.
Perhaps the only thing that's more gross than the popping of this growth is the fact that the buck licked the flow of pus as it fell from his head. Nasty stuff, but it also goes to show that these animals are tough as nails. Hopefully, by popping this growth, it will help this buck to survive his injury and live to fight another day.
For more outdoor content from Travis Smola, be sure to follow him on Twitter and check out his Geocaching and Outdoors with Travis YouTube channels.
