Sika Deer

[Raffman]

I spent a few days visiting my folks in Dorset so took the opportunity to descover Arne. I thought the place was a little piece of paradise, kind of a photographers dream. My main purpose there was to photographer the deer, something I had not yet achieved. I had a great couple of days there and managed to get a several shots I'm happy with. I think its fair to say I'll be seeing my folks much more than they're used to from now on. I took my mother with me one day and loaded her with a camera and she also had a wonderful time, I hope she'll go there again as it is so close.

The experience has now increased my want to capture images of the deer closer to home up on Exmoor and so I hope that throughout the year I'll get to share these with you.



Raff

[Kymba]

What a great Picture from watching Johnny Kingdom on TV i think Exmoor will be a great place to get even more great Photo's of Red Deer. Good Luck cant wait to see more Photo's.

[aeshna5]

Great photo! The Sika are very approachable around Arne, in fact I saw a woman who approached a female with fawn too closely for a photo, attacked by the deer. The mother was just trying to protect her young.

The sound they make is quite strange, a sort of whistle, totally different to their close cousin , the Red Deer. I know where the 2 species both exist, such as parts of Scotland, they regularly hybridise, but I've never heard these animals call.

I remember reading somewhere there were plans to reduce the Sika population in Dorset as the numbers were having negative impacts on the ecosystem. Must confess I always enjoy watching these deer when I'm in that part of the world.

[Raffman]

Thank you Kymba and Aeshna5 for you comments.

I was advised by the Senior Arne Reserve Warden that they may be culling whilst I was there.

Raff

[GuyF]

Very nice shot. I see a lot of these as Arne is so close to me, and it is very nice to see them. They are so used to people, a couple of years ago I was standing 2 feet away from a mother and her fairly young fawn and they were just foraging as if I wasn't there.
The sounds they make are really strange, they remind me of the sound killer whales are supposed to make. One of our friends who is a nature photographer spends a lot of his time with these deer, he has been knocked over and stabbed in the leg by a stag during the rut when he got a bit too close.

[rlchew]

I haven't been to Arne for several years but I do remember seeing Sika.

Excellent photo Raff!

Richard

[honeybee]

Lovely pic.
For people who want to get very close to fallow and Sika deer, Prinknash abbey near Gloucester has a nice tame collection. They have a variety of birds and pygmy goats too. Nice place for kids.

[Wildwoodsman]

Lovely photo - thanks for sharing.

There's certainly no shortage of Sika around Purbeck at the moment. I see them most days, occasionally in herds of around 40 or more.

Only once though have I seen a white one - a stag about the same age as the one pictured. There is reputed to be another at Arne but I haven't yet met anyone who has seen it there.

B