Severed deer legs discovered in west St. Louis County

ST. LOUIS, Mo. (KMOV) - Kyle Bowen lives in Wildwood and didn’t know there was something unusual on his lawn till his neighbors pointed it out.

“I wasn’t sure what they meant until I actually made it out in the yard and sure enough there was an actually baby deer leg just sitting right there,” he said.

A second person who lives in the same area of west St. Louis County posted photos of 4 fawn legs on social media that he’d found in his yard several days earlier. The photos sparked speculation that a neighbor’s dog might be responsible, or coyotes and poachers.

Dan Zarlenga is a spokesperson for the Missouri Department of Conservation.

“You’ve got deer in suburban areas and you’ve got coyotes in suburban areas. They’re both very common in suburban areas. And so it’s easy for the two to come together,” he said.

But because of current drought conditions, Zarlenga said coyotes and other animals will range farther than normal in search of food and water. He said that could be leading to more encounters between coyotes and fawns.

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