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Whitetail quadruplets

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From: Ben Blanco City: Tonica, IL
Hello, I harvested a doe tonight in Grundy Co. As I field dressed her, I noticed the embriotic sacks. Curiosity got the best of me, so I slit one sack open expecting to find 1 fetus. I found 2. I slit the other sack open, 2 more. I was surprised to find 4 fetus in this doe. My question: is this normal? I know most mature does have twins and occasionally triplets, I just wasn't sure if they start out with 4, and loose any during the pregnancy. Maybe it's just as rare as it appears. I have a picture of all 4 if you would like. Thanks, Curious Hunter
	Extension Message From: Laura Kammin Visiting Extension Specialist, Pollution Prevention Extension-Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant College Program lkammin@illinois.edu
I'd love to see the photo. Would it be ok if I share with a couple deer biologists? You are right, twins are common and even triplets sometimes, but not four. I'll check with them and see how rare that is. Did you happen to age the doe? I'm guessing she was an older one.
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