Deer - At Last!

In July 2018 a wildfire swept through large areas of the the estate forestry on the slopes of Beinn Bhraggie, a conflagration sufficiently serious to merit inclusion in the national news. The land has since been cleared and coniferous trees planted, though by the time this happened the gorse had re-established itself.

None of this matters particularly except that, on this morning's walk, I wandered up into the area looking for dog violets as I had found an early flowering of them there last year and, to my considerable joy, spotted two roe deer on the far side of the clearing. Unfortunately, one of them saw me at almost the same moment and let out a bark that sounded very much like a dog's, causing the two of them to high-tail it into the trees.

That this small event matters to me is because it's been months since we last saw a roe deer in the local forestry. With the amount of walking we do, we're accustomed to seeing them not infrequently, particularly in winter, so something has happened to make a sighting so unusual.

It can't have helped that, a few months ago, the area was hunted over and, we're told, a deer shot not far from this spot. This saddens me as having wild animals, particularly larger ones like roe deer, living close to me is important in my life. It provides an excitement, a frisson of fear, that sharpens my senses, that makes me feel more alive. That is why I found the tented encampments that we used to visit in Tanzania so enjoyable, for the animals that passed in the night often included larger and much more dangerous beasts than roe deer.