CAROLINE COUNTY reader and deer hunter Dirk Farmer wrote a couple of weeks ago, sending along a photo of a deer's hoof that was abnormally long and asking if I'd ever seen anything like it. "This hoof came from a spike buck killed in King George by a friend of mine," Farmer wrote. "The hooves are approx. 4 inches at the longest point and the dew claws are exceptionally long, too. We were curious if this is a sign of disease. Strange."

Strange, indeed! And, yes, I have seen something like this. A young deer was taken at Fort A.P. Hill a couple of years ago with hooves even longer than those shown in Farmer's photo.

Farmer also sent the photo and question to biologists at the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. They responded that this deer may have recovered from hemorrhagic disease (sometimes called "blue tongue"). This often-fatal disease gives deer a severe fever. The hard outer coating of the hooves often sloughs off and the tender inner hooves can become deformed.

While that may be plausible, other research and discussions with wildlife biologists reinforced answers I discovered when researching the A.P. Hill deer.

Deer with this condition can have hooves that curl up dramatically--not as bad as when the Wicked Witch of the West's feet curled when Dorothy dropped a house on her and snatched the ruby slippers in "The Wizard of Oz," but enough to resemble little elf boots.

Jerry Sims, a district biologist, has heard the condition termed both "elves' feet" and "foundering."

"This condition is usually associated with pen-raised deer," Sims said, adding that a fellow biologist shared a story about a buck at Mississippi State University that developed a severe case of curly toes within months after being placed in a pen.

Diet, including too much carbohydrate- or protein-enriched food, and lack of exercise (being unable to walk and run enough to keep hooves worn down) are primary culprits of foundering.

It makes sense. Many deer farmers seek maximum antler growth. Manipulating bigger antlers by diet may also generate bigger hooves. Hooves are like fingernails--they don't trim themselves. Or, a deer may have a physical condition that prevents it from digesting carbohydrates and proteins as it should.