QUODITCH EDUCATION DEVON
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We have identified two types of deer at Quoditch. Red Deer and Roe Deer. As yet, we don't have many decent photographs of them but there is plenty of evidence to show where they have been. One of our neighbours believes that he has seen muntjacs on his land as well.
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Here is a roebuck. It was in the next door neighbour's field at the time (late July 2004).
At the bottom of his fields we often see a herd of about a dozen red deer grazing, but they are just too far away to get decent photos. |
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Except for the one we managed to get of this hind and her offspring in October 2004 |
| In both fields five and six we have deer wallows. |
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Field Five
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Field Six
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Wallows are depressions in the ground that catch the rainwater. The deer roll in them to remove all the stray bugs and tics in their coats.The wallows make good homes for the tadpoles each spring, but one year a deer rolled in the wallow and all the tadpoles were caught up in its coat! |
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There is evidence of deer tracks everywhere, usually heading in a North-South direction. The deer regularly move from the woodland in the North to the lush field belonging to our southerly neighbours. If you look at our hedge bordering the road you can see the holes or "racks" made by the deer as they enter our land. |
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The deer do a lot of damage to farmers' crops, but we don't mind them, even if occasionally they sharpen their antlers on a dead tree. They help us to control the growth of the scrubland encroaching onto the grass by eating the new shoots on the trees. They are also a beautiful sight. usually we spot them singly or in pairs, but in May 2000 twelve were spotted together by some visitors. |
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Generally though, all we see are footprints. |
| What is a switch? What is a pricket? Watch this space, we'll tell you soon. |
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Page last updated 6th March 2006
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