Pesky Flies and Bloodstained Velvet During early August most mature red deer stags will have completed regrowth of their antlers. The protective highly vascular velvety skin that supplied oxygen and nutrients to the growing bone over the past months now starts to dry out and decay, attracting numerous flies. Stags may become more difficult to…
Tag: Somerset
How did the red deer cross the road ?
VLog on filming Red deer crossing the busy A39 road in Somerset, and often casual nature deer cross roads , not least post Lockdown leading to many near misses and collisions.
Velvet Stags and Spotted Calves
The Red deer Year: July Velvet Stags and Spotted Calves. In July wild red deer stags are at their most tolerant of each other. Many will join all-male bachelor groups, commonly 5 to 15 strong, though occasionally – as in the video clip below – much larger aggregations may be seen. Meanwhile, young red deer…
Rudolph caught on trail camera
Rudolph caught on trail camera by Christmas lights on edge of Exmoor, then poses for the houseowner to take photos, before raiding their bird feeders! Having followed one particular magnificent Exmoor stag for several years, which had taken to visiting various gardens on the edge of town, I set up several remote wildlife cameras to get…
One sunny November morning on Exmoor
Not allowing myself to be put off by first having to scrape ice from the car windows at 6.30 am, and heading up onto the moors last Wednesday morning was definitely my best decision of that week. Better still, when later on I found that most other folk seemed to have stayed in bed, leaving…
Wild Exmoor stag learns to use antlers as tools
The wily Exmoor stag that learned to use his antlers as tools When researching and filming red deer in the urban fringe over the past two years (see my previous blog) one particular stag always stood out for his intelligence, dexterity and constant twinkle in his eye ! In one video clip featured widely on…
Bambi: “Look how I’ve grown”
In early June this year during a walk on the edge of Exmoor I was thrilled to stumble across a newly born deer calf lying up concealed among nettles and brambles. Most deer calves hide up quietly on their own for much of the day during the first few weeks of life, and the mother returns…
25 years of Quantock Deer Counts
Last week I was asked to speak to the Quantock Deer Forum on the history and findings of the annual Quantock Red deer count, which I have now been involved with in one way or another for over two decades. Ever since 1991 this count has been organised on behalf of the Quantock Deer Management…