Thursday, 18 September 2014

Melanistic Deer

To have a break from using my chainsaw in Wedge Wood, I went for a wander through the woodland drives. Standing at the edge of one of these was a curious sight.
To begin with the deer appeared to be as perplexed as I was, for we both stood and stared at each other. It was the twitching of the extraordinary long ears that convinced me that this was one of the resident fallow deer. However, I was taken aback by the colour, which was almost entirely black, with just a hint of brown on its flanks and other parts. Having seen dark coloured fallow before as well as white examples, I had not countenanced an example of anything so black. It soon shot off into the undergrowth, where its colouration made it completely invisible under the shade of the trees.

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