Recent sightings: The buck stops here

The whole week has seen the reserve covered with deep snow. On days like this you really get a sense of how much activity there is that we never see. There are mammal footprints everywhere!

The highlight of the week has been getting more pictures of the elusive roe deer. Here is a doe, showing off the distinctive white patch on the backside that helps distinguish them from the commoner red deer.

Being from down south, where we see them daily, I wasn’t surprised at all to see this species appear on our camera trap. However, it turns out it is a very scarce species in Staffordshire and the wider area. Derek Crawley, chairman of the Staffordshire Mammal Group said: “Roe deer are rare not only in Staffordshire but to a lesser degree in our surrounding counties. The number of records since 2000 can be counted on one hand, so to see both bucks and does is great as this population will hopefully spread across the woodlands of Staffordshire.”

You can see that the antlers on this roe buck (male) below have a velvety covering. This is actually skin that has lots of blood vessels carrying the nutrition needed for the antlers to grow. The antlers are the fastest growing bone in the deer’s body, growing and being dropped every year after rutting, which in roe deer happens in late summer. So when the antlers are fully grown this covering falls off, the bone dies then falls off after rutting and the cycle starts all over again.

I’m going to put my neck on the line and say that the bit where this buck licks the snow off his lips is really cute. There, I did it! I may have to live with that for a while. I challenge you to disagree though...

Due to the icy conditions in the car park and on the trails the reserve remains closed for your safety. We apologise for this but will let you know as soon as it is safe to re-open the reserve.