Potters Bar & Barnet Local RSPB Group
Fallow Deer
by Gordon Neighbour
Fallow deer are native to the European Region of the Mediterranean and from Turkey to Iran. They have been introduced to 38 other countries. In our case it was the Normans in the 11th century for the nobility to hunt. They are the most widespread deer species in Britain.
You have only to take a walk in Richmond Park, Ashridge Park or a quiet corner of Epping Forest to find that they are easy to see. They can even be seen in winter as you head eastwards on the M25 as it connects with the A12, grazing clear of the wood on your left. Other nearby places to us are Coombe Hill near Wendover and near Coggeshall and Newport, both places in Essex.
Their habitat is woodland with grassy clearings and some long grass for when the fawns are born. Their food is grass, herbs, foliage, nuts, berries, bark and fungi. Only the males have antlers, which are shed each year. New ones are grown, a little larger each year. Their lifespan is about 15 years. In the wild, as distinct from estates, they tend to live in groups of five to six. If food is plentiful such as at Coombe Hill or Epping Forest then a hundred or more animals may occur.
During the day outside winter the deer usually ruminate (chew the cud) in the undergrowth, or rest. Dawn and dusk are the main times for them to feed. Feeding time is longer in the winter with the search for food, and the deer are more easily seen. Fallow deer appear to get all the water they need from dew and what is in the plants. Trees in deer parks often have a browse line about 1.5 to 3 metres above the ground - the limit to which the deer can reach. In general grass is the common food in spring and summer, supplemented in autumn and winter by berries, nuts, holly, fungi, bark and dead leaves.
The body length of a fallow deer is 130-160 cm., the shoulder height 85-100 cm. Males weigh 60-85 kg., females 30-50 kg. They have many colour varieties, but are typically fawn in summer and reddish brown in winter. They have yellow and white undersides.
Besides seeing them in deer parks and woodlands, I have had two rather dramatic close encounters with fallow deer which I shall never forget. When the first landing on the moon was made, we were driving home from Wye in Kent along a sunken tree-lined road to the M2. As the words came over the car radio “the eagle had landed” my headlights showed a large animal jumping from the bank onto the road, to land close in front of me. I just managed to stop about a foot from it. I don’t know how the deer felt, but I was shaking like a leaf. It was a close run thing.
On another occasion near Brent Pelham in Essex one afternoon we were driving along a hedge-lined minor road. Through a field gate we spotted three fallow deer - a buck and two does - running towards the road. I stopped the car and waited. About 50 yards in front of us the three deer jumped over the hedge, then with one bound over the hedge the opposite side of the road. It was what I like to call a Grand National view!
The mating season, known as the rut, begins in October and lasts about a month. The bucks are very active and try to herd as many does as they can into their territory. The buck scrapes the soil with his hooves and antlers, urinating and rubbing his head against saplings, fraying the bark to mark his territory, bellowing much of the time. Rival bucks fight fiercely, charging each other and clashing antlers. Eventually one is injured or defeated. The winner takes the harem of the loser. It is well not to get too near the buck at this time as you too can be attacked.
After 230-240 days a single fawn is born (twins are uncommon) in the long grass or bracken. The doe returns to feed it every four hours. The fawn can run after about two weeks but generally remains in a concealed spot. When about four months old it joins the herd. The fawn is weaned after about 7 to 9 months.
Man is the deer’s only main predator. Foxes sometimes take a few fawns. Numbers of deer on estates and in parks have to be regularly culled to avoid disease, overcrowding and destroying their habitat. Fortunately there is a good market for venison!
