Getty Images / Wolfgang Kaehler You know you have an extremely uncomfortable sensation when you have a stray eyelash in your eye? You find yourself sitting there, the rubbing unconsciously, and the whole world just has to stop for a minute because it's so distracting.
Well imagine that, but instead of hands for recover stray hair, you've got hooves. And it's not just a stray hair, it's a bunch of them.
Science From the lab to your inbox. Receive thes latest science stories from each week.
A report of a "sick deer" made at the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency produced a mixture of fear, disgust and gnashing of teeth, thanks to a Tennessee deer found with corneal dermoids - otherwise known as hairy eyeballs .
The white-tailed deer was found bleeding and disoriented in Farragut, a suburb of Knoxville in eastern Tennessee, in late August 2020. Animal control was forced to send the deer, but sent the head for analysis to the Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study Unit (SCWDS) of the University of Georgia Veterinary School.
While the deer was posthumously discovered to have epizootic hemorrhagic disease - a virus infectious and often fatal that plagues white-tailed deer - another notable aspect was discovered: the deer's corneas were almost completely covered with disks of hair.
Written by Dr Nicole Nemeth and research technician Michelle Willis, the official SCWDS report stated: “Corneal skin, as in the case of this deer, often contains elements of normal skin, including hair follicles, sweat glands, collagen, and fat. The masses are usually benign (non-invasive) and congenital, possibly resulting from a failed embryo development. "
So it's likely that the deer had these corneal dermoids for some time, gradually worsening until their vision was almost completely obscured.
According to Sterling Daniels of the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, "her day of darkness, but I don 't think he would be able to see where il was going. I would compare it to covering your eyes with a washcloth. You can tell day from night, but that's about it. "
This is only the second deer to be documented with corneal dermoids.
