A tragedy during the fallow rutOctober saw the annual fallow deer rut, or mating season, in the New Forest. Each species of deer has its own rituals and rather different timing, with the roe rutting being much earlier than the fallow. The fallow rut is a much more formal and communal process and it can be a very noisy one too, as the bucks “groan” continuously, sometimes for hours together. They include red, fallow and roe deer and amongst them is an example of two sets of locked antlers from fallow bucks found dead in Woodfidley Inclosure in 1904. A “do as you like” culture again seems to rule in the Forest and in other once quiet and beautiful places.
