DALTON GARDENS - A buck with no obvious signs of trauma was found dead Monday morning, near where four does were found dead in similar condition three weeks ago.

Organ samples from one of those does were collected last month for testing, with Idaho Department of Fish and Game officials seeking to determine why the deer died. Residents who found the deer suspected poisoning, possibly disease.

Tara Strouse found the buck in her backyard around 11 a.m. on the 6700 block of 15th Street. The doe collected for organ sampling was found dead on the 6700 block of 16th Street.

"His eyes were open, he was beautiful laying there, dead," Strouse said. "There's no blood. There doesn't appear to be broken bones, broken antlers, and obviously he is a ways from the street."

The buck was approximately 60 yards from 15th Street.

The only other deer that has died in her yard was found in front of her house, near 15th Street. It had been struck by a vehicle, and showed multiple signs of trauma, she said.

She plans to contact Fish and Game today. The Fish and Game offices were closed Monday for Columbus Day.

"If it has been poisoned and my dogs were to get to it, my dogs could get sick," Strouse said. "I don't know how you could just specifically poison the deer."

There was no word late last week about any of the lab results. Laura Wolf, wildlife biologist for Fish and Game in Coeur d'Alene, said last month the department will take more samples if there are new reports of sick or freshly deceased deer.

After some initial testing in Idaho, the organ samples from the doe were sent to Georgia and a laboratory which specializes in disease testing.

After The Press ran an article about four does found dead with no signs of trauma three weeks ago, other Dalton Gardens residents said they also have found dead deer with no obvious injuries.

Ed Proulx was one of them. He found a dead fawn in his backyard on Colfax Street.

"I thought it was very odd that there were no physical marks on the animal," he wrote in an email last month. He also sent a picture of the fawn.

"I figured it ran into the fence or my shop and broke its neck," Proulx wrote. "That is, until I read the article."

* The Dalton Gardens City Council is conducting a workshop tonight to discuss a possible nuisance ordinance to deal with the city's deer population. The council also plans to discuss the city's "deer strategy."

The workshop will be at City Hall, and is scheduled to run from 4:30 to 6 p.m. The council will not allow any comment from members of the public at the workshop, according to a notice posted at City Hall.