Deer in Wales

[8x57]

I never thought I would see Roe in Monmouthshire in my lifetime but now they are all over the county and Muntjac??..... there was one stood in the middle of a nearside lane of a dual carriageway joining the M4 in Newport at J28 a couple of years ago. Good job I was in the outside lane as visibility from the rain was not good in the dark but it was a doe looking to cross over towards the west side of Newport. There were muntjac in Wentwood forest to the East of Newport at least 20 years ago so no surprise they've managed to get to the West side and maybe further.

There's always been roe in Monmouthshire but in very small numbers and only on the eastern fringes of the county. They've certainly spread in recent years and as you say can now be found virtually all over the county. We've also seen them in several urban areas of what are now called adjoining counties (but in my mind will always be the real Monmouthshire) and they usually cause a stir with numerous photographs and videos on local face book pages from locals enquiring as to what they are, as they are unfamiliar with deer.

Not so long ago photographs appeared in the local rag of a muntjac roaming the streets of the Gaer area which is very close to junction 28 and on the west side of the city.

 

[paul k]

Sika deer in Glamorgan Must have got there by helicopter or it's on someone's wall and was shot elsewhere. I know a lot of guys who know their deer that cover a lot of ground south to west Wales, rough shooting all over the place and yes the fallow, the red, the likely small number of Sika at Pendine, the muntjac in odd areas I can understand, but any Roe or Sika are hard to explain and if there are any in the South West, they've had help to get there and will be very lonely. Yes it happens, I was asked only a few weeks ago if I knew someone who could get hold of some Roe or Sika

I never thought I would see Roe in Monmouthshire in my lifetime but now they are all over the county and Muntjac??..... there was one stood in the middle of a nearside lane of a dual carriageway joining the M4 in Newport at J28 a couple of years ago. Good job I was in the outside lane as visibility from the rain was not good in the dark but it was a doe looking to cross over towards the west side of Newport. There were muntjac in Wentwood forest to the East of Newport at least 20 years ago so no surprise they've managed to get to the West side and maybe further.

I agree, I grew up in Monmouth and spent many hours watching fallow all over the eastern side of the county and the Forest of Dean. I saw a roe in the Highmeadow Woods in the early 70s but that was the only deer I saw other than fallow. The nearest that I saw another roe was a road kill doe near Weobley in 1997. I never saw any but in the 1960s there were a couple of years when a single muntjac was reported on an estate at Llanvapley, about halfway between Monmouth and Abergavenny. I always felt that Monmouthshire was perfect for roe and I’m pleased to see them well established. I wish that I’d put my master plan of securing cheap deer stalking rights in the many small woods with no deer in anticipation of their eventual arrival into effect!

There was a silver medal sika reported from Glamorgan a few years back but no clue where it might have come from. The nearest sika probably being those on Lundy and that’s a fair old swim and Margam never had any sika. However, there have been sika in Wales as I was shown a photo of a definite live sika stag taken in Montgomery around ten years ago.

 

[paul k]

There are no red deer on the Llyn peninsula, despite what the BDS map says. However, about 35 years ago, a herd was installed on one of the Tudwal islands off Abersoch by the then lease holder Carla Lane. They soon ran out of grass, so a local fisherman was charged with the task of carrying silage over to them. Which was fine until the weather turned bad and the sea became too rough for the fisherman to make the crossing. Rather than starve, the deer simply swam ashore and the good folk of Abersoch awoke one morning to find their gardens full of deer. Strangely, the deer never established themselves in the area, although one stag was seen in the Llithfaen area for a few years subsequently.
The only deer on the peninsula now are my own park herd of fallow, and I think the only red deer in North Wales are a small farmed herd in Snowdonia.

I agree with you as I knew about the St. Tudwals deer which explains the Lleyn report and I spent a lot of time in the Conwy valley looking for any signs of reds with no results at all, including during the likely rut listening for roaring stags.

I have seen a photo of a roe taken in a garden in Bangor and I have been told that a former keeper on the Kinmel estate near Abergele had possibly introduced some roe about 20 years ago.

 

[Chris11]

I have seen a few reds down In south wales, I know they escaped from a park few years back but seam to be trying to spread not sure on numbers but seen a groups of 4 stags just before the new year, and know of a few hinds not far away.

 

[valevelo]

Bit of a thread resurrection. Never really heard of deer south of the M4 in Glamorgan despite having a deer park smack in the middle since the 1600s.

Not enough woodland I guess