Red Deer in the New Forest

	Red Deer stag roaring

Red Deer are enormous beasts. In fact, Red Deer are Britain’s largest land mammal. Big Red Deer stags stand a full 138 centimetres (4 ½ feet) tall at the shoulder, and, particularly during the rut, weigh as much as 190 kilos (420 lbs).

Up to 200 Red Deer are present in the New Forest at any one time. They often seem surprisingly unafraid, content to stand and stare whilst intruders pass by, before casually wandering away.

But early on autumnal mornings, during the annual Red Deer rut, testosterone charged stags with thickened manes make a fearsome sight as, muscles rippling, flanks caked in mud, breath billowing white against the darker heather, they roar their welcome to the dawn.

The biggest Red Deer stags have the finest antlers, or heads, as they are often known, with sometimes as many as 20 sharp, burnished points. Each is a potential weapon in the fight for supremacy, the battle for matings with the hinds. Fights between Red Deer stags, though, are infrequently witnessed. More often sound, display, posture and chase are sufficient to settle disputes.

Unlike fallow bucks that try to attract females to a rutting stand, Red Deer stags have less allegiance to a piece of ground, much preferring to try to control the movements of a chosen group of hinds.

When engaged in this high energy task, Red Deer stags are rarely still, sometimes running, sometimes walking, often slowly, deliberately pacing, but always with obvious intent – to bring wandering hinds back into the fold, and, of course, should the need arise, to drive off competitors.

Yearling Red Deer stags, those with single spikes for antlers, often hang around the edge of the group, jousting amongst themselves, preparing for the day when they too will hold a group of hinds. Providing that they do not get too close, presence is often tolerated, but encroaching animals are chased away, only to return a little later when the resident Red Deer stag’s back is turned.

Noise, action, aggression: this is wildlife in the raw.

	Red deer hinds and a calf

The big Red Deer stags, though, are not always in as much control as they might like to think, for sometimes, whilst he roars and prances, the Red Deer hinds, led by an elder bored of the whole process, simply wander off. Then, the largest beast in the New Forest may try to round them up again, or sometimes, head bowed, meekly follows on.

By mid to late-morning, Red Deer rutting activity usually quietens, and the deer settle in the heather, content to lie-up for the remainder of the day. Out on open heaths, they can be particularly inconspicuous for such large animals. Antlers protruding from the tall, rank vegetation; ears occasionally twitching, Red Deer stags and hinds relax together, waiting for the next day’s dawn for action to start again.

Food, though, can distract even the most amorous of Red Deer, for sometimes, particularly during years with abundant beech mast and acorns, the start of rutting is delayed as the animals remain in the woods, mopping up the harvest. Similarly, after an initial frenzied burst of activity, Red Deer rutting sometimes subsides for a number of days, only to resume again after appetites have been sated. It’s clearly all a question of priorities!

Outside the rutting season, a high proportion of Red Deer hinds stay in, or close to traditionally favoured areas, though some are compulsive wanderers, appearing from time to time considerable distances away then just as quickly disappearing. Many of the Red Deer stags, though, in bachelor groups, leave the New Forest altogether after the rut, reappearing only ready for the on-set of the following year’s festivities.

References:
The History of British Mammals: Derek Yalden
Deer Watch: Richard Prior