The rut

[chataigner]

Having moved from really remote countryside (nearest neighbour 1km +) to the centre of a small village (1200 population) I was surprised and delighted to hear a couple of stags calling this week. Didnt sound too far away either, but I know the sound carries very well.

 

[RogerS]

What brought about the move? We live relatively remote and thought of moving into close proximity with neighbours leaves us cold!

My favourite animal noise comes from the buzzards thermalling around.

 

[chataigner]

Divorce - half the equity went to my ex wife so had to sell the big house and 30 acres in the country.

The good news is that I'm living with a lovely french lady and also have a much bigger and better workshop here.

 

[AndyP]

When is the hunting season down there David?. Venison is delicious.

We too have the regular screech of bussards but frogs at dusk is the eerie sound we are getting at the moment.

 

[Rod]

Deer are killed throughout the year in my neck of the woods - mainly on highways - they are becoming a real pest!
No sounds of a rut but the cawing sounds of a very large flock ( or whatever the correct term is?) of Rooks circling over the fields and the popping sound from the local gun club (about 2 miles away).

Rod

 

[chataigner]

When is the hunting season down there David?. Venison is delicious.

We too have the regular screech of bussards but frogs at dusk is the eerie sound we are getting at the moment.

Chasse dates are a function of species, in Haute Vienne cerf is 12 oct to end feb, chevreuil is 1 june to 13 sept for stalking, then 14 sept to end feb for beating. The list for other species is long... However, if I was a stag I'd keep my head down especially this week.

For those not familiar with deer in our neck of the woods, there are both roe deer and red deer - the red deer stags are as big as a small horse.

 

[Mike G]

There are more deer in Britain than at any time since the last ice age. Muntjac have gone berserk, but roe & fallow are booming too. The most amazing thing, though, is that down here in East Anglia, hundreds of miles outside what I understood to be their natural range, there is at least one herd of wild red deer. Apparently they aren't escapees, either. They are migrants. It'd be pretty amazing to see and hear them during the rut.