Category Archives: Muntjac deer

Muntjac survival in cold weather UK 2012

British bird song, Muntjac deer, ,

Was concerned and interested about muntjac ,coming from where they do , coping with the first half of February’s weather here. The night of 10/11 th I recorded -14 C in my garden. The daytime was without much movement on 11th ’til early pm then saw animals digging thro the 8cm of snow to find the straw of old game food areas. At dusk groups of up to 8 Muntjac including a suckling fawn were to be seen eating oilseed rape leaves poking thro’ the snow . Don’t think any casualties but may have been different if snow deeper and cold prolonged ?Much easier for Muntjac to survive and if necessary have numbers controlled where game feeding continues into early spring .Chaffinches now in full song , a little later than recent years

English birdsong heard in January 2012

British bird song, English woodland, Muntjac deer

In this third week of January 2012 here’s my observations and nature notes. Seeing lots of muntjac around  weather v mild and not too windy .  The feed hoppers on the local shoots are attracting lots of attention as they provide an easy meal.

Heard a Chaffinch trying to break into song last week, not quite there yet. Blackbirds and Song Thrushes seem very sensitive to the slight increase in day length and were heard singing on the odd pleasant evening at the turn of the year.

Many plants are breaking dormancy,  a cold and wet month now could help arable farmers and nature alike, mercifully we cannot intervene!

An example of calling and recalling Muntjac

deer calling video, English woodland, Muntjac deer, , , ,

Here is an example of a co-operative Muntjac I filmed in 2010.  The animal was actually on camera for almost 20 minutes, coming and returning several times.
I’ve found this to be quite unusual and I didn’t have the oppportunity to re-try this animal at a later date to assess whether or not I had made him call-shy.

English woodland, Muntjac deer

Not been doing much with the deer for some time ,did call one in for a group of children on a nature walk 2 weeks ago .Their faces ! Garden freshened by Mondays rain of 8mm now a total of 35mm since 1st March .Grateful for small mercies etc as I understand far less in East Anglia . Despite a mass of blossom on the Hawthorn this spring most of the flower stalks have fallen off so there will be fewer berries this Autumn .The two late frosts followed by high day temps ? This plus the lack of moisture ? Any suggestions?