Williamson's Weekly Nature Notes
IT is the rutting season for the fallow deer. Every evening for nearly the past month I have been hearing the bucks groaning around my home here in the woods.
The peak of the rut is usually October 23 or thereabouts, depending on the weather. As the full moon, the Hunters' Moon, is on October 14, usually with its fine weather, that indeed could be the week.
Bucks have been pawing at the ground wherever a convenient twig hangs down to touch their antlers. This they like to play with, nibbling and hitting it continually to leave their scent there and on the ground in the dust that they churn up with their fore feet.
Like red stags, they love to decorate their antlers if possible with grass or weeds or sweetcorn or old straw from a stack.
For full feature see West Sussex Gazette October 22