Fallow deer behaviour

As Autumn arrives the activity of the Fallow deer increases and the gathering in of the harvest makes them more visible.

After noticing a few signs and seeing a couple of glimpses of a herd of female fallow deer, I did a bit of detective work, following trails, prints, droppings and the trees the male had marked.

After a few days of moving trail cameras around in different areas, I came across a regular meeting place for both the male and female Fallows, known this time of year as a rutting stand.

The adult male Fallow deer has marked certain trees by fraying the bark and scent marking with his sub-orbital scent glands, he also urinates on parts of the ground and scrapes the mud away with his hooves. This is done as the rutting season commences. Two particular young trees have been thrashed, which you can see in the photos above.

You can clearly see his ‘Adam’s Apple’ in this clip.

 

Not long after the adult male deer scent marked the ground and nearby trees, this young male comes to carefully check things out.

 

A few hours later another young male Fallow deer does the same.

 

As dawn breaks the adult male returns

 

Finally the herd of around 8 to 10 females with their young pass by. Generally the dominant doe will be leading the herd. The does will have been attracted by the activity and signs the male creates.

 

 

The rutting season peaks in October and last around 7 to 10 days

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