This attentive baby red deer (Cervidae Cervus elaphus) was with a herd in long grass hiding in shade from the hot sun. It was alert, observing and listening just at the limit of tolerance after I had just crept up behind a an old rotting treetrunk. Seconds after watching me it bolted towards its mother hind.
They can be difficult to see fom a distance with their reddish brown coats. There are many deer in the New Forest as sometimes if very early tourists will see them roaming wild while travelling through the lanes of this natural environment.
They are of course hoofed and herbivorous mammals. Until recent times when hunting with hounds has been banned, they were sometimes hunted on horseback. No doubt antlers and hides were valuable raw materials in days gone by, as well as the venison to eat!
Date: 17/08/2005
Location: New Forest, Burley Farm, Burley, Hampshire England,UK