Red hinds in devon

Craggy

Well-Known Member
Hi guys
i was watching a herd of 10 hinds all seemed quite happy feeding together.
And then one separated herself from the herd by 50 m when another larger hind chased her around the field attacking her back legs.
This happened. On and off for half hour until she was chased out the field where she continued to slowly walk away feeding and looking back to the herd.

After another half hour she returned back to the field where she was chased again and then all the 10 deer started running around a couple of fields moving out of my sight

Does anyone one know why this hind was singled out?
 
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Craggy
Very sorry to see that you haven't had any replies to your query. Is there any possibility that what you saw was a very forward male calf that was no longer welcome in the hind group. Round me it seems to be a bit of a lottery whether male calves stay in the group in early spring. It seems to vary from pure hind groups to having a few juvenile stags hanging round.

Ion
 
Thanks Ion

i thought it strange with not having any replies, I didn't notice any growth from where I was stood (300m away ).
i trust it would be just a peddicle.

I also noticed a quick boxing match, although I can't say if this was the original two as the whole herd got very excited running in all directions around the field

thanks
craggy
 
Ok here's another reply. Red deer hinds can be absolute *******s to each other sometimes. A hind that is sick or in poor condition can be picked on mercilessly by the others and will be driven out of the herd. Presumably this is because as a group they do not want this beast attracting the attention of predators. They are very good at recognising when another animal is not going to make it. Sometimes on my farm I have seen hinds walk away from a new born calf and leave it. This can be just a useless mother but it can also be that she has recognised something in the calf which means it has no future and that it would probably die anyway.
Another possibility is that the hind you saw may have come from somewhere else and was trying to get into a new social group. That would take time and effort for a healthy hind but if she was looking to join a new group it probably means she was kicked out of another group so we are back to the first scenario.
Or it could be nothing more than a temporary spat between animals.
 
Cyberstag I think you've hit the nail On the head.

The day before when I first saw the herd there were 9 of them so possibly it was trying trying to join the herd.
I was only visiting the area for two days, it was nice to see them in the same place two days running.
It makes a change to see a different species, I don t get to see reds very often as there are none on our syndicate in Scotland or where I live


craggy
 
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