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| Young fallow deer buck |
Here be Autumn: new colour comes to deciduous tees as they move nutrients elsewhere before they shed their leaves; fruits and berries abound and many animals put on fat and build up stores to help them through the cold months soon to come; and for Britain's naturalised fallow deer it is a time of high drama: 'the rut'.
The males have grown palmate antlers - bigger in the older males - and, by early October, these big bony spiky structures have lost their protective velvet. The males' adam apples are bulging (helping their throaty roar) and their necks and shoulders ripple with muscle.
As autumn deepens, the bucks initially form bachelor herds and hone their fighting skills by bashing the local trees about and play fighting. Then they become more solitary and the oldest and best antler-endowed will fight for access to the females. This goes on for about three weeks before they return to their quieter lives.
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| Some tree bashing and leaf nibbling. |
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| A small group of younger males |
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| A buck with bulging adam's apple |
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| A fine large set of antlers here |
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| Reaching up to accost a tree |
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| Take that, tree! |
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| Antlers adorned |
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| The rest of the herd - does and fawns and a few young males |
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| Does and fawns |
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