Day 19.279: In a rut

At this time of year the deer are in their mating season (known as the rut). Photographers flock to Bradgate Park in groups and individually to try to capture the excitement. I was not there for that purpose,, but it didn't stop me getting a few photos as we passed by. The red deer stags in particular are noisy and potentially aggressive. The fallow deer are a lot quieter about things but we also did our best not to get so close.

These two populations of deer are kept inside the park and managed to keep their numbers in check - but are otherwise effectively wild. On the last morning we saw a wild roe deer (my sister has also seen muntjac) - they get in through gaps in the wall but presumably move along again rather than staying in the park.