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Fallow Bucks (Dama dama)
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| [Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note |
I took this picture of Fallow Deer Bucks in open agricultural farmland this afternoon.
In total there were six Bucks and three does.
I have never seen as many Bucks in a group before.
(Dama dama)
FALLOW DEER
Recognition. Intermediate in size between roe and red deer. There are four main variations in coat but many minor variations also exist including a long-haired version found in Mortimer forest, Shropshire. The common variety is the familiar tan/fawn colour with white spotting (becoming long and grey with indistinct spots in winter) on the flanks and white rump patch outlined with characteristic black horse-shoe. The Menil variety is paler, lacks the black bordered rump and keeps its white spots all year. The black variety is almost entirely black with no white coloration anywhere. Finally, the white variety can be white to sandy coloured and becomes more white at adulthood. This is a true colour variety and not albinism, which is rare. The fallow is the only British deer with palmate antlers.
Adult size. Bucks (males): 84 to 94cm at shoulder, 46 to 94kg. Does (females): 73 to 91cm at shoulder, 35 to 56kg.
Antlers. Palmate in adult (>3 years), increase in size with age, up to 70cm long.
Life span. Exceptionally, 16 years, bucks (males) rarely exceed 8 to 10 years. Status. Non-native but considered naturalised. Locally abundant and increasing.
UK distribution. Widespread in England and Wales, patchy in Scotland.
Habitat. Mature broadleaf woodland with under-storey, open coniferous woodland, open agricultural land.
Food & feeding. Preferential grazers of grasses although trees and dwarf shrub shoots will be taken during autumn and winter.
Origins & history. The extant species of fallow deer found in Britain was introduced by the Normans in the 10th century although some would suggest that the Romans attempted to introduce it here much earlier. Fallow deer were prized as ornamental species and were protected in Royal Hunting "Forests" for royal sport. During Mediaeval times many deer parks that held fallow deer were established and these and more recent park escapees have given rise to the free-living populations in Britain today.
Social Organisation. Group sizes as well as the degree of sexual segregation varies according to population density and habitat. Groups of adult males and females, usually with young, remain apart for most of the year in large woodlands, only coming together to breed. Sexes freely mix in large herds throughout the year in open, agricultural environments.
Notes Taken from the British Deer Society
PP work
Shot in Raw and converted to jpeg.
A free hand crop along the full pixel length to remove unwanted foreground and background. |
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hello Billy
excellent photography of the Fallow Deer Bucks
Dama Dama (in French »»» Daim), fine POV and DOF
with appropriate panorama framing, they must been
very far looking at the lens you had, i love the eye-contact
with you of 2 of them, TFS
Asbed
Hi Billy,
I like it.
I get the feeling that they are all doing lookout duty, each in a different direction. All in a line the way they are they appear as if they are engaged in something purposeful.
I enjoyed reading your comment: especially the history part. Are they hunted today?
I think the tight framing is good. I have been thinking to myself about whether more foreground or more background should have been included in the frame. I'm not sure. It looks pretty good to me the way it is.
Enjoyed the shot
Jason
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