You must be aware of that feeling when there is a stray eyelash caught in your eye! You keep on rubbing it, wash your eyes too, and to you, the whole world kind of stops because it’s so annoying! Something similar happened to a deer, and the difference is that it is not one stray hair, but a whole bunch of them. Reports of a whitetail deer were surfaced on the internet, and its hairy eyeballs are the highlight. With the animal’s cornea being covered wholly in skin hair, it gives the deer that spooky look. A photo of the animal went viral on social media giving scary chills to the netizens. But what is the reason behind the deer’s uncanny look? In this article, know why the deer has hairy eyeballs.

The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) reported about a whitetail deer from Farragut with hairy eyeballs. It described the animal that was circling, lacked awareness of its surroundings and had something on its eyes. Officers caught and brought it for an examination to the Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study unit (SCWDS) of the University of Georgia vet school; it was found that the animal suffered from epizootic hemorrhagic disease (EHD). This explained why the deer was walking in circles and lacked any fear of humans around it. Scientists state that deer suffering from EHD are reported to have high fevers and other disorienting symptoms. But that did not explain the hairy eyes. Ugly 'Pup'ling! Rare Albino Seal Pup Spotted in Russia Might Get Rejected by Its Community But Internet is All Love! 

Why the Deer Have Hairy Eyes?

The SCWDS further reported that the hairy eyes were actually “corneal dermoids.” The dermoids is a benign tumour that occurs when tissue grows in the wrong place on the body. In this case, skin tissue complete with hair cropped up in the deer’s cornea. Dr. Nicole Nemeth of SCWDS was quoted in a Quality Whitetails report that the hairy skin patches likely formed early in the animal’s development, while it was still in the womb. Instead of successfully developing into a clear cornea, the tissue instead formed skin and hair follicles, obscuring the growing deer’s eyes. Two Baby Deer 'Cheer' After Being Rescued From Swimming Pool in Ohio by Police. 

See EYE-Catching Pic:

So, it is likely that the deer had these corneal dermoids for quite some time now, progressively worsening until its vision was almost completely obscured. Scientists explain that the animal could probably figure out whether its day or night, but may not be able to see where it was going. The animal is only the second deer ever to be documented with corneal dermoids.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 23, 2021 01:36 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).