Cold, damp and wild in Richmond Park 5- # 346

Walking from the valley, up through the woods we come out on the high plateau. As we come out of the trees we notice.......a large group of red deer stags perfectly camouflaged, their antlers looking like dead wood sticking up among the bracken.

In October the stags were fighting and staking out their piece of ground and guarding their group of ladies. Now, the stags all bunch together in male harmony, and the ladies, likewise, browse in female groups.

To answer a couple of questions;

@Peter yesterday.....they generally move away if you get closer than 50 meters, so they are not so easy to photograph nicely with a standard camera.

@Freefalling.....the deer don't attack, but if dogs or people annoy them they do become dangerously aggressive, especially the stags. In October the stags are very agressive.

Camera: Olympus E3 at about 200mm hand-held, 1/320 sec, f4.0. Auto WB.