Autumn is the best time of year to watch one of nature’s great spectacles – deer rutting. Red deer are the largest land-mammal in the UK, and one of the oldest surviving herds with a blood line dating back to William the conqueror can be found in the Lake District’s Ullswater Valley.
This is breeding season for the deer and when the dominant male does his utmost to defend his hinds (mature female red deer) from the young challengers. The dominant stag puts on a show of his strength, tossing antlers, strutting back and forth and bellowing loudly to intimidate the competition. The clashing of antlers as the stags challenge each other is dramatic.
Do you know your red deer from your roe deer? Here are some handy facts to help;
- Red deer are bigger than roe deer, reaching a maximum height of around 2m compared with 75 cm and weighing in at between 70-225kg against 10-25kg
- Red deer as the name suggests, have dark russet-brown fur, with a paler patch on the rump and a pale tail, roe deer have no tail.
- Red deer males have large wide branching antlers growing up to 86cm, unlike roe whose shorter antlers, 30cm or so, grow vertically usually with three prongs at the end.
- A male red deer is called a ‘stag’ and female a ‘hind’ whilst a male roe deer is a ‘buck’ and female a ‘doe’
- Red deer can live to the ripe old age of 18 years, with Roe deer averaging 7 years.
- Roe deer make a barking sound and red deer make bellowing sound
Mark Horton, Manager Ullswater ‘Steamers’ says, ‘The first time you hear the stags bellow and the sound echo around the fells, it’s quite something. You can sometimes see them on the high fells from the boats and hear them when walking on the Eastern shore or up on Hallin Fell. We often get visitors asking what the sound is.’
Listen to this British Library audio recording of Red Deer calls for an idea of what to expect. Close your eyes, imagine you are surrounded by lush woodland, imposing mountains, mist rising off the lake with the morning sun, or bathed in the last rays of the setting sun with the sound of the red deer calls floating on the breeze. Or better still, head to Ullswater to experience the real thing, there are many walking routes starting at the villages of Pooley Bridge and Glenridding and Ullswater ‘Steamers’ cruises link up to many of the routes around the lake, providing the perfect way to rest your legs as you soak up the views.
If you are out on the fells this autumn to see this amazing show, do bear in mind that rutting stags are pumped up with testosterone, so there are additional risks to be aware of when watching or photographing deer during the rut. Keep safe and keep your distance, the British Deer Society suggests 100m away and if a deer starts walking parallel to you and is glancing at you out of the corner of its eye, it’s a sign it may be considering you as a threat – so move away immediately.
