Differences

Another beautiful morning brought us a view of two stags. Yesterday's meeting with a group of six mostly hinds had been followed by a distant view of stags in another sunny and sheltered spot. These two were probably the same animals and this morning they were browsing early with frost covering the heather and still there later after the sun had climbed higher.

Differences between hinds and stags are obvious to the simplest mind. They're male and female and the stags have antlers. But it's interesting to observe other things: the shape of the head for instance; and the ears of hinds being more prominent is not just down to the fact that they have more room to show when there are no antlers in the way. But the most striking difference to me is in the eyes.

The stags' eyes tend to look much harder when compared to the deep pools of brown of the hind.

No two stags have identical antlers though the pattern is usually fairly consistent. One of today's beasts has an strange left antler with an unusually angled brow point and a branching where the trey point comes out making a more divided effect.

It would be interesting to discover if this distortion is repeated or left behind when new antlers appear in the coming months. The other stag this morning was notable for antlers that spread wider than usual making almost a bow shape.

One wonders if this is an advantage or disadvantage during the annual rut. If the opponent's antlers are closer together that might prevent them from locking and allow the brow points to get through. Or not?