Wilder Appeal

When land begins to rewild all sorts of delights happen. It’s not easy to predict.  And what you see now you may not see 5 years hence. The unpredictable is a large part of its appeal even if some of the impacts are temporarily disappointing. Management by contrast is frequently disappointing.

Here we have an exploited shooting estate for the privileged finally given the chance to express its character and do so naturally and freely. No wonder we return here so often when other nearby places have been rigidly and clumsily managed, often badly but successful only in taking away the magic.

Today the cotton grass shimmers like a covering of snow in the sunlight. This part of the moors has had no management input, no farm livestock for as long as we can remember apart from occasional escaped sheep. The bilberry bulges, a few trees are establishing themselves, and there are patches of bracken and a small rhododendron. Deer hide away in the deeper shrub layer when they want to get away from the people and cattle. This is not going to stay exactly like this forever. It is a process and there will be many surprises and delights for the observer along the way. 

Meanwhile another area is to be seen on the other side of the main road, at the same level, different only in that it has been managed with sheep, a process overseen by Natural England and Sheffield City Council at considerable cost to the public purse. Does anything else need to be said?

Earlier in the day, a grey morning tempted us to look for the crepuscular. Sure enough roe deer were there. Two does one much larger, the smaller one possibly a fawn from last year. 

Given the recent discussions about a nationwide deer cull it’s worth reading the contribution of one experienced observer here.

Roe Deer do not seem to live in large groups in this country. I'd say the typical group is 3, and the biggest group I've seen is 5. The does are often accompanied by a buck, and they are territorial.However it is the grazing pattern that is the most significant factor, and why this stuff about Roe Deer overgrazing is complete nonsense from people that have never observed Roe Deer feeding, and who have poor field skills. How Roe Deer browse is like this. They will only take a few bits off each plant, and then they move. They simply never stay in one spot and heavily graze one area. They constantly walk around in a patch carefully selecting a few bits here and there. I'm not exactly sure why they do this. Whether it is to prevent over-grazing, whether it is for nutritionally based reasons, or an anti-predator adapation. Even with quite small plants, they will never eat the whole plant, and it the plant regrows its lost bits. Their territorial behaviour means it is impossible for them to overgraze. There are a lot of Roe Deer in my area, and it must be close to carrying capacity, and I have never seen overgrazing of the type you get with rabbits and herd deer. 

It’s worth noting that there are people around the local moors here who mention culling of deer almost as soon as you talk with them. That’s a measure of the success the manager/cullers have had with their propaganda. It does not seem to occur to people until you mention it that the whole idea of culling is utterly perverse in the context of so much farm livestock on the moors. But then who said it’s compulsory to think before you speak?

Once the expensively subsidised farm livestock are removed and deer have expanded to a greater extent then it will be time to consider introducing predators. This will never appeal to the managers who want a quiet life and steady role for themselves. Time to start the debate now.

Curlews are making a great deal of noise on the higher parts at the moment. They are certainly privileged to have these open spaces mostly to themselves apart from sheep.

This is one place which desperately needs to have some rewilding. The grass cropping of the sheep with their ‘crop&crap’ management must be one of the most dreary things ‘management man’ has ever come up with.

The ungrazed verges are approaching their best with some wonderful accidental juxtapositions of wild plants often those you don’t want in your garden but grand when they have the freedom to find their own way.