Bark dammage. What did it ??

[RED]

Brilliant, thanks for that woodsman.

I have noticed 'dottles' allover the place but never assumed they were from anything other than the rabbits, of which there's plenty. Have to look more closely at them now...oh the joy!! lol

Not sure if i'll get up there tomorrow now, Little bro has been called in for a rugby match tomorrow so more than likely won't be up to clambering around the reserve afterwards(He always manages to get himself at the bottom of the pile so comes home limping and bruised...lol) Maybe Sunday tho

[RED]

Well. I did get up there eventually today, but didn't have time to go to both areas so went to the ponds in search of Amphibians (Just my luck...nothing there...except an odd jellylike blob i'll ask about in a bit)

But what I did find...


What I assume (Quick google) is a deer track ? (Just over 2 inches long)


And some more stripped bark, this time from a felled tree.


So it would appear (Eventhough being honest I wasn't entirely sure) that the bark damage above WAS done by deer.

Thanks WABers

Although now im on a mission to spot one in the flesh....LOL

[The Woodman]

Well done RED and thanks for the update. I think you've ID'd the culprits and from the scale of the slot in your image, my guess is that it's Roe Deer.

Keep your eyes peeled when you go back again.

[camo]

Hi Red

You are on the way to becoming a nature detective. Clearly Deer however the species is not clear. Cloven hooved animals are a nightmare to differentiate with a photo however I would refer to Bang and Dahlstrom "Animal tracks and Signs" (very good book) to distinguish between Deer as follows;

Muntjac, tiny and only upto 3cm long. So at around 2ins (5cm) yours are not Muntjac.

Roe, slightly larger at about 4.5cm but with a pad print that extends to the tip of the cleave, in the photo the pad is very distinct and no where near tip. So I would say not Roe.

Fallow, Does at 5-6cm and Stags up to 8cm with the pad clear and about half of cleave print. May be a Fallow Doe but are there any Fallow in your Area?

Sika similar size to Fallow but wider, your tracks look narrow. So I would say not Sika.

Red, Hinds at 6-7cm and Stags at 8-9cm. Would suggest probably not Red unless half grown.

So using Bang and Dahlstrom I would suggest Fallow although I could be wrong.

Good luck in your tracking.

roy

[RED]

I can't find any reference to what possible deer there are in the area. I've checked the website description for the actual reserve, a reserve less than a mile away and even Northumberland Wildlife Trusts website, which doesn't mention them either.

Quite lucky that I spotted that print actually, it was surrounded by dog prints as it was quite close to a path, and near the main lake, so gets alot of traffic.

Had I not been in such a rush to get back (Should never go there when I've got a time restraint) I would've looked around a bit more.