Wary and Alert

Running, fearful and keeping close together is about right for deer. They should be afraid; it's their birthright. To fully retain this character they need to be free and, ideally, aware that predators could appear at any moment.

Those in the parks of stately homes, decorative as they are, display little more than an innate timidity alongside their elegance but that cannot compare with the sense of  near panic that is daily life for free living wild animals in a world shared with top predators.  Their place in the scheme of things means they should always be looking to move on. Their browsing in a natural landscape where danger is ever present does not impact on the vegetation in the same way as the eating habits of protected farmed livestock or more domesticated deer where no predators threaten.

There are times we see deer spread out across a remote hillside relaxed as they never should be - with only the nearest human, half a mile away, to worry about.

On Blacka things are a little different. Dogs being walked on the comprehensive network of paths are more likely to remind deer that such animals as wolves exist.

So predator behaviour is vital for the deer to behave as they should. Otherwise as with all herbivores, their impact on the trees and other regenerating plants is disproportionate in certain areas. Not though as much as cattle and sheep perversely favoured by the industry who prefer to blame deer for all ills.

The deer on this day were alert and fearful, watching, looking around, gathering together and running off in panic. Perhaps a wolf was near or a lynx?

Either would be much better than a rifle wielding human whose lethal target practice gets called, guess what, management.