UKC

The Whinlatter Forest park borrowed two reindeer from Scotland for a childrens' Xmas show. One was spooked by a dog and escaped from the pen into the forest about a week ago. They aren't too worried about it as it can easily survive there, but they need to find it to return it to it's Scottish owners. So that's no big deal but I was wondering, if they don't find it, could it join up with Red deer or Roe deer. Most deer prefer to live in herds. Would it be accepted by other deer? Could it even find other deer? The nearest are Reds around Thirlmere. Most other Cumbrian deer are around the east and south of the area. Whinlatter is surrounded by roads, could it make it safely to where the other deer are, i.e Grizdale forest and between Ullswater and Haweswater for Reds, Eden valley for Roe. As hill folk, can anyone work out a fell top route for it to join other deer?
Mountain instructors, you could use this as a test for your students. Avoid as many roads as possible, obviously.

In reply to j0ntyg:

Any idea if this will affect Christmas present deliveries?

In reply to Removed Usertk:
No, Father Christmas has been privatised and now uses FedEx and UPS

In reply to j0ntyg:
could it join up with Red deer or Roe deer. Most deer prefer to live in herds. Would it be accepted by other deer? Could it even find other deer? The nearest are Reds around Thirlmere.

No, I'm afraid poor Rudolph won't be allowed to join in any Roe Deer Games, but that might be victimisation because of the red nose.

In reply to j0ntyg:

They may even laugh and call him names

In reply to toad:


Applause.

Given the proximity of Whinlatter to West Cumbria, I suspect our missing friend may already be in a freezer somewhere...

In reply to j0ntyg:
Plenty of deer round Whinlatter, Barf and Sale Fell.
At least I hope that's what all the beady eyes watching me in the darkness are..

In reply to j0ntyg:

He needs Scottish input here, they know more about reindeers than the English. Stop the Xmas jokes.

In reply to Ridge:

I had reindeer recently and it was very tasty. My friend had an amusingly awkward job of telling me what is was with his five year old daughter tucking in at the table too!

In reply to Cobbler:

It's very good isn't it! Had it in Norway lots.

In reply to toad:

Pretty well every large wooded area in the Lakes has a large population of deer. About thirty years ago they had a cull in one near us (about 200 hectares) and brought out nearly 500 carcasses and they reckoned they'd got less than a third. There were still plenty of deer around afterwards.

ALC

In reply to j0ntyg:

Possible sighting?

Saw two deer together as I cycled through Grasmere yesterday . One did seem to be a lot bigger than the other.

In reply to Skol:

Yeah - lovely. Like a very rich beef. mmmmm

In reply to a lakeland climber:

I reckon he'd head to high ground to get food (lichen). Anyone fancy trying to call him in: youtube.com/watch?v=MW7n2yzcokg&

In reply to Cobbler:

http://m.youtube.com/watch?autoplay=1&v=PHOA_XtENW8&desktop_uri=%2F...

In reply to adamb:

I have no idea where they're hideing

In reply to Cobbler:


Good advise, Whinlatter will have to pay that girl's costs. Is it her reindeer?

In reply to Ridge:


That is good to know, he won't have too far to go then until he finds other deer.
A mistake I made in my OP was putting two questions together.
1) How can the reindeer meet other deer?
2) Will other deer accept him?
One is a hill walk query and the other is an understanding deer query.
So does anyone know if the reindeer will be accepted by a herd of other deer?

In reply to j0ntyg: Theres plenty of deer in Whinlatter forest so how is it a hill walking question?

In reply to j0ntyg:

All deer have excellent senses and all make calls. So I guess meeting other deer isn't going to be a particular problem. Most deer will also graze in fields during the night anyway so even if Rudolph avoids woods he/she will still come across other deer.

But will they accept him/her? The answer is "It all depends" .

Deer like most animals recognise their own species but many species including deer will mate with other species. It is not uncommon!! Red deer have crossed with Elk! Is some areas of the UK this happens quite often.

There is a pecking order of sorts in deer, similar to that of cattle. There's a boss and a rather muddled I(to us) pecking order similar to those of domestic cattle pecking. I'd guess from my experience working with cattle that if Rudolph fancied his his chance with another deer species he may find he gets pushed out -if he tries to join a herd and may have to persist a bit. That said, he'll have similar social graces so he'll probably know how to handle it and no doubt if he drops by at the right time he';ll be accepted with no trouble. Especially if Rudolph turns out to be female and is around at rutting time!!

In reply to Escher:


"As hill folk, can anyone work out a fell top route for it to join other deer?" That's how.

In reply to armus:


Did the Condems sell him off as cheaply as they did Royal Mail?