Day 137 - Delightful Deer at Super Studley Part 2

Sika Deer stags locking horns

Hi all today's Day 137 and yesterday I did a post on Deer. I reviewed Deer in general yesterday but didn't focus on the species of Deer that I actually saw. For those of you that didn't see my Deer post or can't remember it, here is a link to it. The types of Deer I saw at Studley were Red, Sika and Fallow Deer. They were all very interesting to watch especially the Sika Deer when two of the Stags were fighting! Oh deer! (another one for Roy :-) You can see a picture of that to the right. When I do my facts I will do a few facts on each type of Deer I saw.

Anyway, here are the facts:

Sika Deer (Cervus nippon):

• Sika Deer do not usually sleep as they are active throughout all 24 hours of the day. They are most active at night, though.

Sika Deer hinds

• Sika Deer usually graze on grass and small shrubs their favourite being Heather. Coniferous tree shoots can also be eaten as well as bark, both in small quantities.

• Sika Stags can weigh from 40kg to 70kg and are 70cm to 95cm at their shoulders. Sika Hinds are considerably smaller weighing 30kg to 45kg and are only 50cm to 90cm at their shoulders.

• They are an introduced species first brought to Britain from the far east around 1860.

• I may have been lucky to see such a group as they tend to be fairly unsocial, preferring to be solitary most of the year and only form small groups in winter

Red Deer (Cervus elaphus)

• Red Deer are active, just like Sika Deer, throughout all 24 hours of the day. They are most active, though, at dawn and dusk.

A Red Deer stag having a scratch

• The eat roughly the same as Sika Deer, grazing on grass and small shrubs, their favourites being bilberry, though. They can eat woody browse and tree shoots as well.

• They are the UK's largest land mammal. Stags weigh 90kg to 190kg! They are up to 105cm to 120cm long at their shoulders. Hinds weigh 65kg to 120kg and are the same size as males.

• These deer have only been here for around 11,000 years! As man developed from hunter gathers to farmers they were pushed into the wilder higher parts of the country.

• In woods they prefer to be solitary or small mother and calf groups. In more open land like Studley larger mixed single groups may form only mixing during the rut (deer breeding season).

Fallow Deer (Dama Dama) :

• Sadly I didn't get any pics of these guys as I was too far away

• Fallow Deer are active at the same time as Red Deer, all through the day and they are most active at dawn and dusk.

• They eat the same things as Sika and Red Deer - grass, although they can eat tree shoots in Autumn and Winter when there is a limited food supply.

• Stags weigh 46kg to 94kg and are 85cm to 95cm at their shoulder. Hinds weigh 35kg to 56kg and are 75cm to 90cm long at their shoulders.

• These are another introduced species though they have been here since the Normans introduced them in the 11th Century.

• Social grouping varies with habitat, in places like Studley they are likely to form mixed sex groups most of the year.

Here are some links to some more information:

The British Deer Society - Red Deer

Year of nature - Really Delightful Red Deer

The British Deer Society - Sika Deer

The British Deer Society - Fallow Deer

Hope you enjoyed,

Z.

P.S. I hope to do a post tomorrow but I may not get time as my Mum is in hospital for an operation.