I seem to have got caught up with the various Facebook Groups that I'm a part of over the last few months to the detriment of this Blog. But the big advantage of a resource like this over Facebook is that it really achieves the sense of a journal, for my own benefit even if no one else reads it. For that reason I'm going to have another go at being faithful to the blog over the coming 12 months. Over the next few days I'm hoping to put together a post with some of my 2013 highlights. In the meantime here is a video of 2 species of deer seen today in Bedfordshire. With the Isle of Wight being deer-less, I'm always looking out for deer whenever we're visiting family on 'North Island'!
The footage begins with a Chinese Water Deer feeding in a field (1 of 8 seen this morning), which is followed by a Muntjac spotted at the bottom of the garden at the house in Ampthill where we are spending Christmas:
Good to see that you are still about Steve. Both of those are now starting to over-run the area.
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year to you and yours!
Thanks so much, Toffeeapple, and thanks for your encouragement over 2013. Very best wishes for 2014!!
ReplyDeleteIt is a common misconception that there are "no deer" on the Isle of Wight, "no breeding populations", deer are an "introduced species" or even that the deer are only "farm escapees", all of which if not completely untrue are an extreme misrepresentation of the facts.
ReplyDeleteRed and Roe deer are true natives, Muntjac and Fallow are introduced species and evidence of all of these have been seen on the Isle of Wight for more than 20 years now.
Red deer with calves at foot have been seen in recent years which clearly indicates that they are breeding.
Regarding the origins of these deer apart from the Roe all the other species have been kept in captivity on the island since the 1970's & 80's so it is possible that some have escaped and bred but as deer are strong swimmers and have been seen in the Solent and Southampton water it is quite likely that some have swum across from the mainland, this is the only probable explanation of the Roe that arrived during 2013.
Currently there are two deer parks on the Isle of Wight but no commercial deer farms, although there were three of these they had all ceased trading by around the year 2000 so it is highly unlikely that any deer that are now seen in the wild here are "deer farm escapees".
If you are interested in wild deer on the Isle of Wight please get in touch.
Best wishes for the future,
Tim
Hi there, Tim,
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for this information which I find really encouraging (though not, I guess, those who would fear the famous IOW woodland understorey disappearing!). I've just written back to you via your Facebook message....my e-mail is displayed on the Facebook 'Badge' on the top right of this page.
Happy New Year, Tim,
Steve.