Topic: Deer

[Sketty]

They would be fallow deer (Darma darma) bucks preparing for the rut. Roe and Reeves Muntjac are very uncommon in Wales.

PS I'm a professional deer manager in Wales. :)

[Wickham]

Thanks for this info Sketty. As I mentioned eariler, I've only made night time observations of deer in the coed y brenin (seeing vague outlines of deer with their "green" eyes illuminated by my headtorch only). I have heard that fallow deer are present there. Do you know much about deer in this forest? It is an "ancient" forest, so presume fallow must've been introduced there long ago.

[Sketty]

Fallow were probably re-introducted by the Romans and then again by the Normans for sport. Although introduced into open "chases" in Southern England. They 'wild' populations in Wales are the result of escapes from deer parks. These feral fallow deer can now be considered truly wild and indigenous.
All the escapes have taken place within the last 200 - 250 years.

Is this what you wanted to know? If not, please ask. :)

[Wickham]

Yes! Thanks again. I will be returning to the Coed y Brenin Forest next month for another short visit. Hope to come in contact with more of the wildlife there again. Will report anything I think may be of iinterest.