Muntjac and fawn lying down at night

What are they up to these 2?The fawn at the back seems to be submissive(expected)of the doe and they are the 2 that have featured regularly on this blog.In the last pics the fawn appears to try and suckle but it must be getting a bit old for that now although the last pics of it doing this in front of the cam were not that long ago so the doe may be weaning it.These fawns spend at least their first year with their dams so she might be discouraging it from suckling but gently so it stays with her.......

Muntjac in daylight

I couldn,t resist posting this snap of a farm cat.The muntjacs are showing nicely in front of the cam in daylight but i expect this to change once we get back to normal season wise as it feels like it,s a month behind and we are still in october.There,s still a fair amount of leaf on the oaks and some ponds i have seen from all across the county are dry as a bone.......

Muntjac buck eating mushroom

Checked my string of 4 trail cameras this week,3 hadn,t been looked at for over a month so i,ve been treated to more than 15000 pics to check.As a big cat is due to pass any of them all photos,especially the night ones, are scrutinised carefully with the shadows lightened to show up anything lurking there.It,s one hell of a lot of pictures with few duds which just goes to show the intense wildlife activity going on at the moment in the woods.The deer are very active even feeding in daytime and whilst i knew they ate fungi i never realised how much they went for them or that they left them until they are fully ripe.Only the big chesnuts are being eaten but all mushrooms are taken as soon as they are ripe,literally within hours as the next lot of pics will show of a fallow buck eating fungi.....

Muntjac doe and fawn

The muntjac doe and her fawn are showing up often in front of the cam,the doe seems to be eating the brown leaves on the ground of the silver birch which i would of thought to be unpalatable.The acorns are dropping at the moment so many in fact that one nearly hit me on the head the other day.Also dropping are the early,smaller chesnuts and these proove to be a big draw for deer of all shapes and sizes which could be one reason for the increase of big cat activity in these type of wooded areas at this time of year.The oak trees are all over the place but the chesnuts are more locally defined and are more favoured by deer who will askew acorns for chesnuts if given the choice...........

Muntjac doe washing fawn

I am pretty chuffed to get some muntjac fawn pics and this sequence here seems to show the doe being very attentive to her fawn by washing it every now and again.The last 2 pics are 5 nights later so she must be doing it quite often.Haven,t a clue how old the fawn would be but it,s still a bit spotty so can,t be that old maybe 3 1/2 months old if they mature in step with roe but i,m just guessing........

Muntjac in daylight

I,ve waited a long,long time to get some pictures of the rarely seen muntjac in daylight and i thought it would only be in these light months that any might materialise so,whilst not perfectionist perfect in composure,exposure or pin sharp,i,m pretty chuffed with what the Bushnell Trophycam has been able to capture.......

Mangy fox still about

That mangy fox is still alive and kicking and actually looks reasonably well fed.It will be interesting to see what happens over the next few weeks like whether the mange clears up and the fur grows back or,what is commonly thought,that they mostly die of the disease.This one is fat enough to show it,s still feeding well enough so we shall see.The roe have gone,presumably feeding on the new hazel bud tips but this muntjac shows occasionally as do the fallow,albeit not with the frequency that they did in the dark months........