I know that most wildlife photography on this board involves shots of the wildlife having a little lie down but I thought that some might be interested in this snap of my new friend. He is, currently, still on his feet. I'm looking for suggestions for a name:



He has, as you can see from the photo, been tearing up the countryside quite a bit recently but I suspect that he may have lost out to a larger specimen in the competition for the attentions of the hinds.

he looks like a Bjarne to me.
what kind of deer is that?

I think it´s great that you have found a new friend,

I am also sorry to say he to me looks a lot like this man



his name is lars Lejonborg, former head of folkpartiet in Sweden,

so a solid name suggestion for him would be Lassi, as Lars is Lasse for short in Swedish and Lassi(y) would be how it´s pronounced in english.

Best regards Chris

He's the only friend I've got so I'm making the best of him Chris. It must be said I think you are correct as regards him looking like the man in the photo so Lassi seems like a reasonable name for him. Of course, as I'm sure you know, this name might make some people in America and the UK think of a sheep dog that rescues people! Based on his lack of rescuing ability perhaps Steffen's suggestion of Bjarne might be more appropriate :-)

He is a Japanese Sika deer Steffen. They were introduced into Ireland many years back and have done rather well for themselves. They can inter-breed with red deer though they are much smaller. I guess it is not unreasonable to describe them as a smaller red deer in terms of general behaviour. My understanding is that they rarely get more than 8 points, as seen in the photo, so they don't grow the big heads of the reds. In the summer the hinds look very like a fallow hind in terms of the coat but they are now in their winter colours. I will try and post some photos of some hinds this afternoon. The stag in the photo looks quite nice but they can look rather "stern" and ugly. There is an older stag on this ground who has been there for many years and he is a horrible looking thing.

Here are some of the hinds/calves:

Well then,

Bjaerne it is, if you so choose it to be,


as a side note that would be Björn or Bear in Swedish/English

Did I mention that is was a great picture, well it is, almost even better than the kill it self,
but only almost, I like venison far too much to obstain from hunting.

Best regards Chris

Fuzzy lil fellow ain't he!?!

Our Dorset japs are much sleeker with a definate shaggy mane - your new friend looks a bit 'bouffed'.

Have you taken him through a car wash lately?

Lovely phots of a great species to hunt. Yesterday, I had the joy of calling a herd of twenty hinds which came at the gallop.

Much squealing through a dog toy squeaker, as well as thrashing of branches - obviously made for a great first impression!

Artemis suggested it did it for her as well!

Rgds Ian

I absolutely demand that all my deer look their best for photographs Ian. They've got a trailer, complete with stylist and makeup artist, in order that they can comply with these instructions!

In truth it was my father who took the photos as I was working all week and couldn't get out and about. It will be a few weeks before I can get back on the ground but perhaps I will get some more photos and maybe even put some venison in the freezer at that time.

I must acquire one of these dog toy squeakers of which you speak, not to use on the hinds you understand but every little helps!

On a more serious note I can't help but wonder if there isn't a little bit of red deer in the stag and that is why he looks so well. One of his friends on this ground, an old stag, is one ugly brute of a thing and he looks like he is 100% sika.

quote:

Originally posted by IanF:
Much squealing through a dog toy squeaker, as well as thrashing of branches - obviously made for a great first impression!

Artemis suggested it did it for her as well!

Rgds Ian

Ian
I´m off for a date next weekend, this might be a good idee if everything else fails

caorach, I don't think there is much, if any Red in that boy. He is in great condition for mid Autumn. The obvious question is why is he not hanging by his heels?

I sat out for nearly 3 hours last night on a farm that has proven very reliable for us over the past few months. Saw absolutely nothing. We were there a couple of weeks ago, the stags were whistling all over the place.

I wonder if the rut is over? Seems a bit early.

We took a wander round another farm with the lamp later on last night, looking for foxes. Of course the place was coming down with deer. Must have seen 20, and no foxes. Drove 140 miles and didn't fire a shot.

My friend shot a six point Sika the last night we were out. I have never seen a young deer as fat as this one. The fat was coming away from round his kidneys in handfuls.

hmm...i haven't heard of a Sika before.
the hind/calves looks alot like a Red, i could probably mix the two species up in a hunting situation(have never seen a Red in real life).

quote:

My understanding is that they rarely get more than 8 points, as seen in the photo, so they don't grow the big heads of the reds.

that doesn't matter a whole lot to me, but i sure would like to hunt a Sika one day.

quote:

Originally posted by Steffen-9.3:
hmm...i haven't heard of a Sika before.
the hind/calves looks alot like a Red, i could probably mix the two species up in a hunting situation(have never seen a Red in real life).

I mostly see reds Steffen, though not here in Ireland but in Scotland, and the sika are relatively new to me. However, it isn't easy to tell from the photos but the sika are a lot smaller than the reds and so I don't think you would make a mistake once you'd seen one of each of them. There are also differences in colouring which would be quite noticable. The sika get a reputation as being quite robust and, relatively, hard to kill despite their small size.

Sounds like it isn't going at all well for you Brian but that makes the successes seem all the better. That photo of the stag was taken 3 days ago and it seems that he still thought the rut was going full steam ahead. As you say he looks in great condition. This year has been a bumper year for apples and the like and I can't help but suspect that this has provided an extra bit of feeding for the deer, assuming that other stuff they eat has done as well as the apples.

The ground that stag is on is certainly not short of deer at the minute so I might know where all yours have gone!

Philip, the ground we have for Sika in Tyrone has a very healthy population. We have all had deer this season. Just last night did not work out to plan, didn't see hair nor of a deer until we turned the lamp on after 9.00pm.

Maybe the moon phase or whatever, who knows?

I'll be back out next weekend.

The mystery of the vanishing deer! I had a bad dose of it in Scotland over two days in September when, for the most part, all we could find were hinds and the very occasional stag. I will be back at New Year for hinds and am willing to bet that all we see are stags. Good luck next weekend. Unfortunately my recreational activities are awaiting a further condition on my FAC.

Out of interest do you have any approximate idea as to what sort of area of ground is necessary to hold sika? In other words how many acres per deer is the norm? I guess that isn't so easy to answer as they probably hold in quite high densities in some areas but actually use much larger areas on occasions.

As an aside to this diversion to deer management those with a liking for sika might find the following book of interest. It was published within the last week and I've no idea of cost (probably £100s rather than £10s in view of the publisher) or availability but it seems to be about the only dedicated reference on the subject:

http://www.springer.com/life+sci/ecology/book/978-4-431-09428-9

I've dropped Springer a line to enquire after availability and will post any details when I get them.

quote:

Originally posted by caorach:
I know that most wildlife photography on this board involves shots of the wildlife having a little lie down

Hee hee hee.I like your sardonic sense of humour.That has given me a chuckle.

quote:

Originally posted by Steffen-9.3:
hmm...i haven't heard of a Sika before.
the hind/calves looks alot like a Red, i could probably mix the two species up in a hunting situation(have never seen a Red in real life).

quote:

My understanding is that they rarely get more than 8 points, as seen in the photo, so they don't grow the big heads of the reds.

that doesn't matter a whole lot to me, but i sure would like to hunt a Sika one day.

They are an Asiatic deer quite closely related to red deer but a lot smaller and roughly the same size as fallow with which the females are sometimes confused.

They do actually hybridize with reds in Scotland and there is one school of thought that there aren't too many pure reds left in some large areas of Scotland.

They were originally kept as ornamental deer in places like Woburn. They escaped and have been deliberately released and are now common in some areas of Scotland, Ireland and England.

There are a number of sub-species and those in the UK are thought to be almost entirely Japanese Sika although there may be a few Manchurian or Formosan in some areas of England.

The stag in the photo is a typical mature Japanese Sika.

Your friend looks very nice,Caorach.If you don't mind asking, are you planning to let him roam your woods?Thanks.

Best-
Locksley,R

quote:

Originally posted by RobinOLocksley:
Your friend looks very nice,Caorach.If you don't mind asking, are you planning to let him roam your woods?

Well, the woods aren't actually mine but this chap and his friends are currently roaming them and they seem to be enjoying it and doing very well for themselves. However, I think their numbers are in need of a slight reduction in the name of good management.

Since posting the first picture I've made several more visits to this ground and have found 2, perhaps 3, more stags with their hinds. I managed photos of 2 of them:





They aren't great photos as it was nearly dark and the shutter speeds were long so camera shake and any movement of the deer were problems. Even so I thought that some might enjoy them.

Thanks for the phots - not easy to get, if you are also carrying a rifle!

Down in the westcountry, the japs are starting to band up and groups of 70+ are not an uncommon sight. The cause of no little distress to a landowner with a formal garden!

Rgds Ian

The problem is I wasn't carrying the rifle Ian as I'm still awaiting this ground to go on my FAC. So, in the mean time I'm just getting to know the ground and watching to see what is in there.

In keeping with what you are saying the owner of the ground is extremely keen that I start shooting them. I've tried to convince her that our local firearms people take at least 8 months to do anything but I don't think she can believe that :-)

It is frustrating but in the mean time getting to know the ground and taking a few photos probably does no harm at all.