Isn't nature incredible!

A few weeks ago I mentioned that Rannoch, one of the red deer stags at the deer range, had cast his antlers. well, they have started to grow back and are really taking shape. We thought you might like to see what he looks like just now, so Hugh the range manager has been out with his camera.

You will notice that Rannochs antlers still have quite a bit of growing to do and that what he does have is covered in what looks like velvet. This covering will eventually fall off once the antlers are fully grown. Rannoch will find a natural feature like a tree or large rock and rub his antlers against it. This velvet will then rub off and he will then rub his antlers in the mud to make them look more dull and not bright white, like bone.

Ill post another photo when Rannochs antlers have grown a bit more. The size of his antlers last year were very impressive so I'm looking forward to seeing them fully grown this year!

Yogi

Pictures of Rannoch

As promised - pictures of Rannoch without his antlers!

Nature is Amazing!

Every year the male stags 'cast' their antlers, which basically means their antlers drop off. This is very important in the deer's annual cycle as it means broken antlers can be discarded and be replaced by new, bigger antlers which they need during the rut.

Our first male to cast is Rannoch, he cast his antlers just a couple of days ago on the 21st March. He will shortly start to grow his new antlers which will only take between 3 and 4 months!!

Rannoch looks a bit silly just now, but you wait and see.

We will pop up regular photos of Rannoch so you can see how his new antlers are coming on.

Yogi