An unusual post-mortem finding

Authors: Larsen C
Publication: New Zealand Veterinary Journal, Volume 32, Issue 9, pp 159-160, Sep 1984
Publisher: Taylor and Francis

Animal type: Deer, Livestock, Production animal, Ruminant
Subject Terms: Skeletal/bone/cartilage, Diagnostic procedures, Trauma/injuries, Pathology
Article class: Correspondence

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Abstract: On 13th March 1984, when the last stag of the kill at East Coast Venison was skinned, I noticed something abnormal about its shoulders. A second look revealed a lump near the midline just ahead of the scapulae and no sign of the left Mm. trapezius and rhomboideus. Although further investigations were hampered partly by the advanced time of day, and also by the need to avoid unnecessary destruction of edible meat, the following account of my findings and deductions may be of interest to readers. The lump was of about 3cm diameter, consisted mostly of fibrous tissue, and contained a rifle bullet of approximately 7mm diameter, of military type with exposed lead in the heel of the jacket. The jacket had been peeled back from the point, as one would expect of a hunting bullet, exposing what remained of the lead-core, and showed signs of passing through a barrel with four lands/grooves and right hand twist. It was greenish-black, and the crevices under the jacket strips were filled with dry, dark-brown detritus. The fibrous tissue surrounding the bullet and that connecting the proximal end of the scapula to the spinal processes was of grey colour, which on close inspection was seen to be caused by an enormous number of minute (approx. 0.2mm diameter) nearly black particles of lead from the bullet core…

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