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December
is deer month
How will I know if I'm looking at a Muntjac?
The Muntjac
deer is the smallest British deer, barely the size of an Alsatian,
and often mistaken for a small dog or a fox. Its coat is reddish
brown and it has white
patches on its chin, throat and rump. The
male Muntjac has small antlers (a maximum of 15cm long) and long
canines projecting as tusks. Female Muntjacs have no antlers - instead
they have tufts of hair - and their tusks are much shorter.
Muntjacs are about
90cm in length and stand about 45-52cm tall. They weigh about 12-15kg.
They can live up to 19 years.
Are they native to Britain?
No, Muntjacs were introduced to Woburn Park, Bedfordshire, and to
parks in Hertfordshire and Northamptonshire in the early 20th Century.
Since then many escapees have reproduced and expanded their populations,
so the Muntjacs you see in the Cambridgeshire countryside are really
on the run - but don't turn them into the police - our boys in blue
have got better things to worry about.
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Ah,
how sweet am I? Photo courtesy of BBC Wildfacts
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Where
should I look for a Muntjac?
Muntjacs prefer to live in woodland - often quite dense, so they
can be quite difficult to spot - but they sometimes turn up in large
gardens, so you might be lucky enough to see one in your own garden.
They haven't ventured very far north, and we have quite a dense
population of Muntjacs in the Midlands and East Anglia.
What
do they like to eat?
Muntjacs
are browsers, and feed on ivy, bramble, coppice shoots, flowers
and seeds, also fruit, nuts, dead leaves and fungi. They sometimes
cause damage by stripping bark from trees.
What are their habits?
Unlike many other species of deer, Muntjacs are solitary, but small
groups may sometimes gather at feeding areas. Once they find a habitat
they're happy with, they usually stay there for life. Muntjacs bark
when disturbed, which is another reason why they are often mistaken
for dogs. They are active both day and night, but they usually feed
at dawn, dusk and in the middle of the day.
The British population of Muntjac has been estimated at 40,000 animals,
increasing at approximately 10% per year.
| Magnificent
Muntjac facts - things your mother never told you... |
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Most
of the Muntjac deer in our region are descended from escapees
from Woburn Park.
Remember the classic film 'The Great Escape?' Well, it's almost
certainly based on the mass escape of Woburn's Muntjacs.
You can almost imagine them trampolining over the fences,
digging under the wire and scurrying into the woods, disguised
as other native deer species.
Oh come on, just use your imagination a bit!
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You
can find out more about Britain's mammals at BBC
Wildfacts or BBC
Life of Mammals or The
Mammal Society.
The Mammal Society's Winter Monitoring Project is also looking
for volunteers. It wants to know more about the future of different
species. People who take part will be asked visit areas near to
their homes to monitor mammal activity and look for any signs of
mammals, like footprints or droppings. The Society - the only group
dedicated to the study and conservation of all British mammals -
says the initiative will help it learn more about different species
in the UK, and provide important information about the state of
the British countryside.
Get more information from The Mammal Society website or by ringing
020 7498 4358.
November is.... hedgehog month
>>
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