After a few days of staying indoors, due to the cold outside and the cold in my body, I had to get out and take in the wonderful landscape. The hills and moors covered in a scattering of snow and frost, making for wonderful scenery, which I didn’t want to miss out on. I hadn’t planned to see any wildlife, the walk was mainly to take in some landscapes and get a few nice photos. Well – didn’t I get a surprise!
I walked for a while, heading in a direction I’ve often walked before and remembered that, in the summer, I’d seen a couple of holes in the hillside, but had never gone back to see if there was anything living there (fox, badger or hare possibly). I thought this would be an ideal time to check it out, as I’d be able to see any animal tracks in the snow. When I got there it was easy to see the whole area covered in deer tracks. I’ve walked this way many times, but never seen any deer about. And right then, as I looked around and about, there was a deer! Not too far away, watching me carefully, waiting to see what I did and where I went.
But there wasn’t just the one. As the first deer decided to ignore me, another popped it’s head over the hill to take a peek! It was quite funny to look at, as you can see by the photo – just the head of the deer looking over the rise.
So there were two deer right? Wrong! As I kept my distance and remained very still, the deer walked away from me, down the other side of the hill. But after a couple of minutes they appeared again a little further away, and there were three of them. I decided I’d get myself in a position where I could watch them, take a few long range photos and see what they do, where they go. And I’m so glad I did!
I sat in the snow, getting a very wet bum (glad I’d put my thermals on!). Two of the deer obviously knew someone or something was nearby. They were constantly looking my way, putting their heads up high and sniffing the air for any strange scent, or bowing their heads low, looking for something. Now, rather than stay away, they decided to come for a closer look. I’ve seen them do this before. Rather than keep their distance, they seem to be curious – to make sure there is, or isn’t anything there. So I kept very still and they kept coming … and coming. In the end they could have been no more than 50ft away. I was taking plenty of photos and keeping very still, as I new any sudden movement and they’d be off! I decided to film them as they were so close and I’m glad I did. It’s a lovely short video of them; you can see how curious but cautious they are. If you can, I’d watch the video full screen on YouTube as it does look so much better and you can see how cute they really are.
Here’s a few photo’s taken before and after the video.
After sitting in the snow for about half an hour, the deer were far enough away for me to move without worrying them. I walked on to take some scenic photos then backtracked to where the deer had been. The sun had just disappeared behind the horizon and on the hill I could see the three deer together.
Time to leave them be. And it was getting dark and very cold. Time for me to get home.
Sometimes you get the best experiences when least expected. This was one of them.
So adored the video
and photos.
Wonderful!
Thanks very much. Glad you enjoyed looking.
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