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Mountain Lion attack or disease? Game Commission offers verdict
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| (photo submitted by the Painters) This was how the heifer looked, still in the pasture, when she was discovered. Her hide appeared to be torn or shedding and she stood and walked with her back legs splayed as if they hurt. (photo below by Dick Vargeson) The heifer was loaded into a trailer, where she remained until Wildlife Conservation Officer Rich Shire could inspect her. This photo was taken about a week after the photo on top. |
By Sharon Corderman
The Pennsylvania Game Commission has reached a determination in the case of the heifer belonging to John and Linda Painter of Westfield. The animal was discovered in late May with much of its hide missing. “These are textbook lesions of photosensitization,” said Walt Cottrell, a wildlife veterinarian with the Game Commission, referring to the peeled hide of the heifer. Cottrell’s diagnosis was based on photos of the animal, taken in early June, which he had studied.
Photosensitization is a condition which occurs when the liver is unable to excrete a metabolite of chlorophyll from forages the animal has eaten. Simply put, certain components of some plants can be toxic and an animal eating those plants may not be able to digest or process those components. The metabolite accumulates in the skin and is activated by the sunlight. The reaction yields free radicals that “burn” the epidermis. Affected skin becomes wrinkled, and the surface may eventually slough away. Areas most affected include lightly or unpigmented skin, muzzle, ears, eyelids and udder. A watery or yellow discharge from the tissues around the eyes occurs.
Chuck Bisel, a hired man at Painters, was the first to notice something was wrong with the heifer. She was in a pasture with about 15 other cattle. Bisel was helping fix fence around the pasture and says that he noticed the heifer’s hide “was torn and looked like it was hanging from her shoulders.” As it was early in the spring they were still taking hay to the cows so they were checking on them regularly. They hadn’t noticed anything wrong in the days before Bisel’s discovery.
Brad Painter, John and Linda’s son, said, “There didn’t seem to be anything else wrong with her other than her hide hanging in strips, except that she had her back legs splayed out like they hurt.”
Cottrell said he received the photos on July 16 and the first thing he noticed when he looked at them was that the black hide appeared to be unaffected and the white hide was hanging loose or gone entirely. “That is exactly what you would expect in a case of photosensitization.”
According to Merck’s Veterinary Manual, “photosensitive animals are photophobic immediately when exposed to sunlight and squirm in apparent discomfort. They scratch or rub lightly pigmented, exposed areas of skin.”
“She hadn’t been acting strange,” Brad said. “We didn’t notice anything wrong with her until we found her that day (like she is in the first picture). If the sun had been bothering her you would think she would have gone into the barn that’s in the pasture. They can come and go as they want. If it’s hot out they will go in the barn during the day.”
The symptoms of photosensitization seem to get progressively worse over time, if left untreated. Cottrell admitted that “it wouldn’t happen overnight.” When asked if he has seen a case as severe as what is shown in the second photo, he replied, “I think it’s a rare condition.”
As for what had appeared to some people, upon the initial inspection of the heifer, to be claw marks down her sides, Wildlife Conservation Officer Rich Shire said, “Those came from the heifer scratching to relieve the itching.” Unconvinced, Brad Painter said, “That wouldn’t explain why it looked like four evenly-spaced scratches at a couple of different places on her body.”
There are those who suspect the heifer was attacked by a mountain lion. John Lutz, director of the Eastern Puma Research Network, stated, after inspecting the heifer, that “the only animal capable of such a damaging attack would be a mountain lion.” Lutz said, “I also sent photos to two wildlife biologists from North Carolina. They reported that the heifer appeared to have been attacked by two young cougars attacking from either side.”
For more on this and other stories, pick up a copy of the Free Press-Courier today!
Photosensitization is a condition which occurs when the liver is unable to excrete a metabolite of chlorophyll from forages the animal has eaten. Simply put, certain components of some plants can be toxic and an animal eating those plants may not be able to digest or process those components. The metabolite accumulates in the skin and is activated by the sunlight. The reaction yields free radicals that “burn” the epidermis. Affected skin becomes wrinkled, and the surface may eventually slough away. Areas most affected include lightly or unpigmented skin, muzzle, ears, eyelids and udder. A watery or yellow discharge from the tissues around the eyes occurs.
Chuck Bisel, a hired man at Painters, was the first to notice something was wrong with the heifer. She was in a pasture with about 15 other cattle. Bisel was helping fix fence around the pasture and says that he noticed the heifer’s hide “was torn and looked like it was hanging from her shoulders.” As it was early in the spring they were still taking hay to the cows so they were checking on them regularly. They hadn’t noticed anything wrong in the days before Bisel’s discovery.
Brad Painter, John and Linda’s son, said, “There didn’t seem to be anything else wrong with her other than her hide hanging in strips, except that she had her back legs splayed out like they hurt.”
Cottrell said he received the photos on July 16 and the first thing he noticed when he looked at them was that the black hide appeared to be unaffected and the white hide was hanging loose or gone entirely. “That is exactly what you would expect in a case of photosensitization.”
According to Merck’s Veterinary Manual, “photosensitive animals are photophobic immediately when exposed to sunlight and squirm in apparent discomfort. They scratch or rub lightly pigmented, exposed areas of skin.”
“She hadn’t been acting strange,” Brad said. “We didn’t notice anything wrong with her until we found her that day (like she is in the first picture). If the sun had been bothering her you would think she would have gone into the barn that’s in the pasture. They can come and go as they want. If it’s hot out they will go in the barn during the day.”
The symptoms of photosensitization seem to get progressively worse over time, if left untreated. Cottrell admitted that “it wouldn’t happen overnight.” When asked if he has seen a case as severe as what is shown in the second photo, he replied, “I think it’s a rare condition.”
As for what had appeared to some people, upon the initial inspection of the heifer, to be claw marks down her sides, Wildlife Conservation Officer Rich Shire said, “Those came from the heifer scratching to relieve the itching.” Unconvinced, Brad Painter said, “That wouldn’t explain why it looked like four evenly-spaced scratches at a couple of different places on her body.”
There are those who suspect the heifer was attacked by a mountain lion. John Lutz, director of the Eastern Puma Research Network, stated, after inspecting the heifer, that “the only animal capable of such a damaging attack would be a mountain lion.” Lutz said, “I also sent photos to two wildlife biologists from North Carolina. They reported that the heifer appeared to have been attacked by two young cougars attacking from either side.”
For more on this and other stories, pick up a copy of the Free Press-Courier today!
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