Download Full PDF - 15.78 MB - The Society of Irish Foresters
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16In Wicklow the strain is not native though two definite types arerecognised by some observers. The stock is mainly supplied from thenearby Deer Park at Powerscourt, which have spread westwards andrange across Glendalough into Glenmalure, into Aughavanagh, in thefoot hills and valleys of Lugnaquilla. Red Deer were also at Ballinacorin Glenmalure, but whether the herd have broken out or was dispensedwith is not known.Red Deer are not numerous in Wicklow and are unlikely to increasegreatly as they are less vigilant than the Fallow and Japanese deer andfall an easier prey to the marksman or pot hunter. When Dr. PeterDelap published his peerless record of his personal observations ofWicklow deer, he estimated the Red Deer in Powerscourt at 60-65. Itis likely that there were more deer outside the park at that time but whilethey must undoubtedly have spread since then and increased their rangeconsiderably there are no reliable grounds for believing that there aremore than 60 deer of this species in the Wick10w mountain massif to-day,and there may be less. About 300 Red Deer are reported in the Kiilarneydistrict. Red Deer stags with antlers of seven to nine points are usualin Wicklow, while finer stags with antlers bearing more than 10 pointsare rare. The Red Deer stag, the biggest of our deer, measures from31' to 4' in height at the shoulders or withers and his length from noseto tail up to 80", and his weight anything from 15 to 30 stone withrecords over 40 stone, but an animal over 20 stone is considered bignowadays. The doe or female is generally smaller and lighter. Thestag's antlers are round, rough and grooved along their long axis.Characteristically there is a very prominent brow tine and a big tres tinewith a surmounting three-pointed coroney.The coat of the Red Deer is reddish brown and short during thesummer, changing to a bristly grey affair in the winter. Two definitetypes are reported from Wicklow, one small and red coated, the otherheavier and grey coated. The Wicklow type generally is also distinguishableboth anatomically and in colour from the Killarney deer by thosewho have observed in both places.The neck is long, the tail very short and the limbs slender and earslong and pointed. The face, throat and under parts are duff grey. Thesides of fawns are white spotted but these disappear with age.The Red Deer stags fight among themselves during the rutting seasonbut it is not usual for them to do each other serious injury. Sometimestwo stags may die due to interlocking of the antlers. The call of the stagat mating season is difficult to describe, but it is often referred to as aroar. Even when kept in the semi-natural state in the parks, stags haveseldom been known to attack man and in the wild they put the greatestdistance possible between them and humans. However, unfortunatelythe Red Deer are not canny as other deer and when startled pause andgaze anxiously at the intruder and then maybe run a bit, pause again andlook again. Whatever may be the underlying reason for his emulation
17of Lot's wife, it frequently provides opportunity for the huntsman andthe downfall of the noble animal.THE FALLOW DEER . (Cervus dam a).The Fallow Deer is not indigenous to Ireland but was introduced inearly times. Giraldus Cambrensis made no mention of Fallow deer, butthis is not conclusive evidence that they were not in the country at thetime. They possibly came with the Normans with the introduction intothe Glencree Royal Park in 1244. One interesting record tells of a giftof twelve fallow deer in 1296 from the Royal Forest at Glencree toEustace Ie Poer, ancestor of the Powers of Curraghmore in CountyWaterford, but the actual date of introduction is uncertain but wascertainly very long before 1600.Since then, the Fallow Deer has spread by its own wanderings andby introduction to many parts of Ireland and is present in far greaternumbers and with wider ranges than any other of our deer species. Itis to be found in the midlands, west of the Shannon and on to Sligo andDonegal through Cavan and Monaghan, in Wicklow and Tipperary andWaterford, south-west to Killarney, most often in the semi-confinementor immediate vicinity of their old home demesnes and less frequentlyranging nomadically, a frequenter of the lowlands and foot-hills and it israrely met with in the mountains away from the grass and green fields.Geographically, the Fallow Deer's natural distribution is in SouthernEurope and Asia Minor. It is natural in the Ibernian Peninsula andthrough Southern France, Italy, Greece and Rhodes and Palastine andhas been introduced into many of the more northerly countries.There are several well-defined features by which this Fallow Deer canbe distinguished from other deer in this country.First, the Fallow Deer is smaller than the Red Deer, being fromabout 30" to 36" in height at the withers and about 60" to 68" fromnose to tail tip and weighing about 10-15 stone in the case of fullydeveloped males.The fully developed antlers of this stag spring from the head as roundhorns but having thrown off a brow and a Bez tine, they flatten out inthe fashion of Irish Elk antlers and give off small pointed spurs fromthis flattened area. (See Illustration II overleaf).The colour of the coat in the summer is a rich fawn with white spotson the sides. The neck is greyish brown and alon,1S each flank passes awell-defined white line, and along the back and tail, which is blackishand longer than other species, runs a line of black hair. The buttocksare white. Dr. Delap emphasises a telling point in that when eitherthe Red and Japanese deer are going away from you, the impression isjust that of a white posterior but with the Fallow deer, the longer tailis emphasised as being superimposed over the white area.
- Page 1: IRISH FORESTR YVol. IX. No. 1 SUMME
- Page 4 and 5: SOCIETY OF IRISH FORESTERSPresident
- Page 6 and 7: 4Need I dwell on the complexities i
- Page 8 and 9: 6Division. The final report is form
- Page 10 and 11: 8The picture I have painted of Dari
- Page 12 and 13: 10I am sure you have all been menta
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- Page 16 and 17: 14RED DEER HEAD.BEZ TINE12 POINTS.I
- Page 20 and 21: 182nd YEAR3rd YEAR4th YEAR5th YEAR6
- Page 22 and 23: 20JAPANESE DEER.ANTLERS.FRONT VIEWS
- Page 24 and 25: 22This little animal is a lover of
- Page 26 and 27: 24neck reaching to the leaves in th
- Page 28 and 29: 26principally on measures of contro
- Page 30 and 31: PINUS CONTORTA as a Forest Tree In
- Page 32 and 33: 30any blanks resulting from frost t
- Page 34 and 35: 32humus may acctlerate podsolisatio
- Page 36 and 37: TENTH ANNUAL GENERAL MEETINGTHE Ten
- Page 38 and 39: 36with satisfaction that the rate o
- Page 40 and 41: 38The vote of thanks to the speaker
- Page 42 and 43: COVER PHOTOGRAPHOur cover photograp
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- Page 46 and 47: IRISH FORESTRY is fully served by:-
- Page 48 and 49: Felling and Cross-CuttingTREESCAN B
- Page 51 and 52: Benjamin Reid & fjO.20 HADDEN STREE
16In Wicklow the strain is not native though two definite types arerecognised by some observers. <strong>The</strong> stock is mainly supplied from thenearby Deer Park at Powerscourt, which have spread westwards andrange across Glendalough into Glenmalure, into Aughavanagh, in thefoot hills and valleys <strong>of</strong> Lugnaquilla. Red Deer were also at Ballinacorin Glenmalure, but whether the herd have broken out or was dispensedwith is not known.Red Deer are not numerous in Wicklow and are unlikely to increasegreatly as they are less vigilant than the Fallow and Japanese deer andfall an easier prey to the marksman or pot hunter. When Dr. PeterDelap published his peerless record <strong>of</strong> his personal observations <strong>of</strong>Wicklow deer, he estimated the Red Deer in Powerscourt at 60-65. Itis likely that there were more deer outside the park at that time but whilethey must undoubtedly have spread since then and increased their rangeconsiderably there are no reliable grounds for believing that there aremore than 60 deer <strong>of</strong> this species in the Wick10w mountain massif to-day,and there may be less. About 300 Red Deer are reported in the Kiilarneydistrict. Red Deer stags with antlers <strong>of</strong> seven to nine points are usualin Wicklow, while finer stags with antlers bearing more than 10 pointsare rare. <strong>The</strong> Red Deer stag, the biggest <strong>of</strong> our deer, measures from31' to 4' in height at the shoulders or withers and his length from noseto tail up to 80", and his weight anything from 15 to 30 stone withrecords over 40 stone, but an animal over 20 stone is considered bignowadays. <strong>The</strong> doe or female is generally smaller and lighter. <strong>The</strong>stag's antlers are round, rough and grooved along their long axis.Characteristically there is a very prominent brow tine and a big tres tinewith a surmounting three-pointed coroney.<strong>The</strong> coat <strong>of</strong> the Red Deer is reddish brown and short during thesummer, changing to a bristly grey affair in the winter. Two definitetypes are reported from Wicklow, one small and red coated, the otherheavier and grey coated. <strong>The</strong> Wicklow type generally is also distinguishableboth anatomically and in colour from the Killarney deer by thosewho have observed in both places.<strong>The</strong> neck is long, the tail very short and the limbs slender and earslong and pointed. <strong>The</strong> face, throat and under parts are duff grey. <strong>The</strong>sides <strong>of</strong> fawns are white spotted but these disappear with age.<strong>The</strong> Red Deer stags fight among themselves during the rutting seasonbut it is not usual for them to do each other serious injury. Sometimestwo stags may die due to interlocking <strong>of</strong> the antlers. <strong>The</strong> call <strong>of</strong> the stagat mating season is difficult to describe, but it is <strong>of</strong>ten referred to as aroar. Even when kept in the semi-natural state in the parks, stags haveseldom been known to attack man and in the wild they put the greatestdistance possible between them and humans. However, unfortunatelythe Red Deer are not canny as other deer and when startled pause andgaze anxiously at the intruder and then maybe run a bit, pause again andlook again. Whatever may be the underlying reason for his emulation
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