I normally read the Bible or other Scriptures before bed, but lately I’ve just been reading. I need to get back to that. All work and no play makes Jill a dull girl. I just ordered “Tent Life In Siberia” (for $2!) from Alibris.
I dreamed, but I don’t remember what. I used to write my dreams down as soon as I woke up but then gave it up as a bad job.
Favorite Daughter was feeling better yesterday, so there’s a relief.
Today’s special animal friend is the Roe Deer, Capreolus capreolus. According to my National Geographic calendar, today is St. David’s Day (St. David is patron saint of Wales) and Labour Day in Wales and Australia. Therefore, I searched for a unique animal of Wales ... but there don’t seem to be any, really. Wales has pretty typical fauna of Northern Europe and the North Atlantic. Consequently, the roe deer ... which is found throughout northern and central Europe, through the Balkans, and into Turkey. It is one of the two largest mammal species in Wales; the other is the fallow deer.
The roe deer is a smallish cervid, with a body length around four feet and a shoulder height around two feet. They are slightly larger in the Urals and northern Kazakhstan. Despite their small size, they are more closely related to the moose and reindeer than to other small or medium-sized deer. In healthy populations, the males are larger than the females, but when the habitat is overpopulated, females tend to be larger than males. Roe deer are tan-colored with a lighter rear and underside. Bucks’ antlers can be up to ten inches long, with two or three points.
Roe deer eat grass, leaves, berries, and young plant shoots, preferring a high moisture content from rain or heavy dew. They avoid domestic livestock. Female roe deer typically give birth to two fawns, one of each sex, after ten months’ gestation. Their populations can double each year if sufficient food is available. A boom-bust or “irruption” cycle occurs as overpopulated areas experience a die-off, mostly from fawn mortality, which can be 90% in highly-stressed habitats. Starvation is the usual cause of death when deer are excessively numerous. However, fawns are very vulnerable to predation from (across their range) wolves, wild cats, foxes, other wild or feral canids, and birds of prey. In Britain, most wild predators have been eradicated; only the red fox remains to contribute to deer population control.
Throughout Europe, including Wales and Scotland, roe deer are an environmental pest. In forest habitats, they clear out undergrowth and eat nuts and newly-germinated trees, interrupting both the natural forest succession and the habitats of other animals and birds. In the absence of natural predators, the main method of population control is hunting. Throughout Europe, “deer stalking” is a popular sport. The millions of deer killed each year barely make a dent in the flourishing populations.
In Britain, there is conflict among forest conservationists, animal-welfare activists, and commercial hunting estates. The former would like to actively control deer populations in balance with overall forest health or restoration, while the last are interested in maximizing the availability of deer for hunting. In the middle, there is a sentimental attachment to the cute animals - in the spirit of “Bambi,” a European novel from the time when deer had been overhunted – divorced from scientific wildlife management.
My late friend Ned, a farmer in rural New York, consistently referred to his cervid invaders as “Bambirats,” and he welcomed the arrival of the invasive “Coy O’Tays” who helped to clear them from his fields. I would not, however, suggest that coyotes be introduced to Europe. I’m sure they’ll come up with better ideas!
I’m glad your daughter is feeling better.
It’s starting to rain again here.