Our Deer Family

As a gardener I moan about the damage that the deer do but I can’t help 'ooh aahing' when I see them. I am happier now that the garden has matured and that I have sufficient to share with the wildlife.
We have just spent the most wonderful 45 minutes watching the deer in our alley. Since last summer we have regularly seen Mum and the twins and watched the babies grow up. In the last couple of weeks I have seen a lone deer in the field next door several times and have been trying to see if it was growing antlers – aged eyes is the problem. This morning “he” was in the alley about 40 metres from our window so, having located the binoculars, we were able to verify that he was a male with antlers about a foot (30cm) long. We rarely see stags and they have always been alone. Therefore it was a total surprise to see the male joined by Mum and the twins and feeding together for about half an hour. It’s not the rutting season which is August so we can only assume they were playing “happy families”. They certainly made us happy.