Woburn - Red and Fallow Deer

An evening's drive through Woburn Park this week.  If only these animals were truly wild, I would have been really pleased with these  photographs.

The Red Deer's antlers are in velvet.  An impressive number of antler points on the stag at the back.

Whilst most of the stags were in a loose herd, this stag was on his own. He had lost the velvet on the antlers, presumably by rubbing them through the grass or against trees.  I didn't see any others in the same condition. If it had been the Autumn, I would have thought it was the beginning of the rut.  Perhaps it is the poor summer temperatures that have confused him?

A young Red Deer, I think showing signs of his first year's antlers.

Fallow Deer in the parkland, with their beautiful spotted summer coats.  I suspect that the fallow deer at Woburn have been selectively culled over the years to avoid the darker melanistic coats that predominate at Ashridge and seen in the countryside.

An unusual Fallow Deer birth! I can assure you no photoshop used for the head.