Family Time

Each year, once the dramatics of the rut are over, it's been a regular thing on Blacka to see a large stag accompanying a group of hinds, themselves accompanied by one or two young just a few months old.

We are so used to thinking of red deer as herd animals with large numbers of hinds or stags wandering across the hillsides until everything livens up during the rut, that this 'family time' can seem rather touching. In fact it's one of my favourite times of year simply for that reason. It's as if testosterone has waned to be replaced by something gentler and more relaxed.