Very Sad Day

[sapper]

After a week of not seeing my 4 does and one young stag (Fallow Deer), which in the woodlands I stalk nearly 3 times a week, checking with game keepers lndowners and such, they all seem to have just gone.

So Today spent from the early hours though to 17:00hrs tracking their route, Then for some reson I checked the natural pond they visit for group drink.

When shock hit. There he was Bold as brass. But motionless.
So watching for a few moments still no movment and made my way around the pond from the outside using bush and brambles for cover.

The Does I get within 6 feet of, but him 100 feet min, to iffy to try closer.

I made a sudden movement so he knew i was there and nothing.
hacking my way through 6-8 of bramble bush with a knife (Military issue type as used by rambo) to get real close only to find He was a gonna.

No blood marks or stains in his coat, no visable head indury. This buck was real heavy but he definatley was not shot.

So now getting pond water tested in case of poisons. as Badgers sett is only 1200 feet away and they use it, as do most of the other critters there.

So I lost the Buck not knowing wether if any of the does have been mated. just got to hope he did his job and young will be around july.

Took photos but not sure where to post them.

[Blackbrook Eye]

Hi Sapper, welcome to WAB, post your photos to the forum gallery, I for one would be interested, although not happy, to see them. Regards, Keith

[Wild-Woman]

This is very sad indeed. I'm glad you're having the water tested. Keep us up with what you find out.

[Biomotors]

Worth getting a vet to take a blood sample/biopsy, as it could have been at the water, desperate to drink, if it had already been poisoned. Slug pellets and rat poison are the two possibilities which spring to mind.

Thanks
Dominic

[Bullseye]

By this time of year they'll be pregnant,it could be natural causes if he had a very "hectic" rutting time.Think thats what happened to my favourite buck after watching him for three years.

[sapper]

Thanks everyone.

Didnt think of blood sample so will do that tomorrow. So far the only thing attacking him are birds for his coat. Still unsure about uploading pics some may take upset. but if you want them as sad as they are I will email them to anyone.


my email... sapper.uk@btinternet.com

and will let you all know about the test result asap.

[Jason Green]

Sorry to hear that

[eeyore]

Originally Posted by sapper

Thanks everyone.

Didnt think of blood sample so will do that tomorrow. So far the only thing attacking him are birds for his coat. Still unsure about uploading pics some may take upset. but if you want them as sad as they are I will email them to anyone.


my email... sapper .uk@ btinternet.com

and will let you all know about the test result asap.

if poison is a serious suspect you need to dispose of the body as these poisons will persist up the food chain otherwise.

for what its worth tho i doubt the water is poisoned or you would have seen more casualties amonst the bird and mamal population.

i would suspect either that he had a collision with a car and came off with only internal injuries - which is more common than you might think, or that he was chased by dogs and had a heart attack from stress.

btw if you put your email addy on forums its a good idea to break it up like i did in the quote as otherwise auotmated spm bots can pick it up and send you lots of unwanted mail.

[sapper]

Thanks EEyore for the tip. will watch for bot stuff

will check every thing out i think, even though tonight I have been told they have had a lot of shoots on latley around here, so they shoot the birds and scare the rest

I love this site and you all are so friendly

glad i found you all.

[Jason Green]

Have you seen the other Does since?

[Rob T]

Sapper, not nice finding dead deer but it's all part of nature (hopefully) The photos although not to everybodys taste may be helpfull in an I. D. to estimate the bucks age, therefore how successfull he may have been last October. An antler shot would be good for an indication of age. Then you would have a better Idea of what next next June may bring.

Ill PM you my Email addr.

Regards

Rob

[sapper]

Well got blood and water sample back

No poisons in the stags blood, the pond water has a trace of blue alge in it so that is gonna be delt with, by the end of the week.

So my stag died natural.

The Greatest news it the does, they have now met up with the rest of the herd, which at the moment count 40+ females, today in essex the day was like a summers day and they all were resting and enjoying the Suns warmth.

Am uploading one of my pics of the whole herd.I was approx 1.1/2 mile away so there is some haze but you can clearly see and count 40+

My does were there so I am happy they are safe.

Photo will be named 'sappers herd'

[Wild-Woman]

Nice one. We'll look forward to your shots. I'm pleased it wasn't poisoning and thanks for keeping us up to speed on the subject.

And yes-we are a nice bunch!

[m1.carson]

Hi,

I've read that blue-green algae is poisonous, but didn't realize it was that bad, i.e. one drink and the deer dies, there has been something like it in our local gravel pits during the summer, but, googling around can't find a decent photo to ID it.

I don't think it can be, too many foxes/Badger/deer around, would have killed them all off.

Max.

[eeyore]

Blue green algae can be extremly toxic i- there are numerous records of dogs and even children dying from it - however it is largely a summer thing so i'm supprised that it is occuring at this time of year.

One of the best ways of combatting it is to float sausages of barley straw in the pond/ lake, as these break down they lease humic acids which react with sunlight to form hydrogen peroxide (at a very low level which wont effect wildlife) which attacks the cell walls of the algae and prevents the blooms from forming.

[sapper]

Thanks Eeyore will get the woodland owners to drop a bail in the pond.
even this time of year its a nice sun trap.
pity the Badgers didnt go there in the day time then i would not freeze trying to get photos

things with the weather are looking better everyday so soon hope to have young deer drinking here soon.

[seamusagleann]

got me thinking now ,better try and get a test done on the loch ,any idea when is the best time to do it

[eeyore]

Originally Posted by seamusagleann

got me thinking now ,better try and get a test done on the loch ,any idea when is the best time to do it

you can generally spot a bloom on the surface - it looks not unlike an oil slick as the algae decays. If the loch is used for water sports etc you definitely need a test if their is visual evidence.

as regards barley straw you are best off breaking the bail up into sausages (with bottles added for flotation) we used to use xmas tree wrapping funnels - if you google "straw sausages" you will probably find the how too guides etc.

edit : the link for the info sheets etc A O U - Algae Control in Ponds using Straw feel free to pm me if you have questions when i was in mk we used to make arround 40 of these each year.

[Biomotors]

I'm not convinced that barley straw is so harmless.

We had loads of blanket weed in one of ours, and it was absolutely teeming with newts, snails, crustaceans, larvae, etc.

Even so, we thought we would be helping the pond to clear the weed, so we threw in a haynet full of barley straw. After a couple of months, the pond was totally clear of blanket weed, but also seems to be clear of everything else! Hardly any newts, the herons get a clear stab at the fish, and seemingly far less mini-beasts. The whole thing seems pretty sterile now.

I wouldn't do that again.

Thanks
Dominic

[eeyore]

Originally Posted by Biomotors

I'm not convinced that barley straw is so harmless.

We had loads of blanket weed in one of ours, and it was absolutely teeming with newts, snails, crustaceans, larvae, etc.

Even so, we thought we would be helping the pond to clear the weed, so we threw in a haynet full of barley straw. After a couple of months, the pond was totally clear of blanket weed, but also seems to be clear of everything else! Hardly any newts, the herons get a clear stab at the fish, and seemingly far less mini-beasts. The whole thing seems pretty sterile now.

I wouldn't do that again.

Thanks
Dominic

that might be more to do with the lack of pond weed habitat for minibeasts than the straw itself.

we used to (they probably still do but i dont work there anymore) deploy 40 plus sausages in willen, caldecotte , and furzton lakes in mk and never saw any ill effects

[Biomotors]

I agree it was loss of habitat, but let's face it, that's probably the biggest danger to wildlife anywhere today.