What has happened on my doorstep in Sutherland this winter has been sickening to say the least.
I have been waiting for the ''natures way of thinning the deer out'' and the ''there were too many deer anyway'' arguments to be trotted out, and can honestly say that in the conditions we have experienced recently, neither argument is relevant.
For a start in this area we have some of the lowest deer densities in the country, the ground I look after has about 1 deer to every 25 Ha - hardly overstocked me thinks!
Secondly, there is nothing natural about the environment that our deer currently find themselves forced to live in - they have been denied access to thousands of acres of their traditional wintering grounds over the years by blanket afforestation and ill thought out, grant incentived native woodland schemes.
This has been got away with for years because of the relatively mild winters we have been having. Unfortunately it has taken the exceptional conditions we have had this year, and the resulting disaster, for some people to realise the error of their ways.
As I have previously stated I am not against woodland schemes IF they are planned thoughtfully but you cannot deny deer access to important ground and just expect them to get on with it, As my physics teacher used to say 'for every ACTION there is a REACTION'.
Many deer have died whilst naturally seeking traditional shelter that they have used for centuries, only to come up against a fenced swathe of ground that they can neither get round nor penetrate.
The weather, of course also played a significant part and many groups of deer were left trapped in a 3 foot layer of sandwiched snow and ice which they could neither dig through to forage nor walk through to shelter.
As for the actions of our government bodies..........one has been indiscriminately leathering every deer in sight with a complete disregard for both the welfare of the deer and their neighbours interests, the other (the DCS) recently sent round a letter asking everybody to make sure and stick to their culls!!!
It is not the point that deer are a survivor (because they are) and it is not the point that things will be better for the deer in 20 or so years when a lot of the fences come down (because it will). The point is that we should be showing our largest, iconic (and in some areas most valueable to the local economy) land mammal a hell of a lot more thought and respect.