The photogenic stag
HILARIOUS images of a male Fallow deer appearing to ‘belt out’ a happy tune have been captured in London’s Bushy Park.
Images show the jolly buck with his head thrown back as if to ‘sing his heart out’ for all to hear.
In reality, the buck is bellowing, or roaring, to warn off other males that might be in the area from getting close to the female deer. The sound has been described as a cross between a chainsaw and a burp. The males also thrash vegetation to intimidate rivals.
Another image shows a red deer stag doing the Flehmen Response which is a behaviour in which an animal curls back its upper lips exposing its front teeth, inhales with the nostrils usually closed and holds the position for several seconds.
This behaviour is mostly seen in mammals and is used for intra-species communication.
The rutting season for deer lasts from September to November when males fight for access to hinds or does.
A mature male will attach himself to a group of females and attempt to see off any other males that wish to mate.
These images were taken by Talvinder Chohan, a British wildlife photographer from Kidderminster, England.
“I am always fascinated by the rutting season because we get to witness a variety of different behaviours and actions amongst the deers,” he told mediadrumworld.com.
“I was lucky to able to capture both, a fallow and a red deer stag. They can be identified by their antlers, where a fallow stag has antlers that are flat the red deer antlers are more pointy.
“The stags try their best to intimidate other males away from their females by not only sound, but by stance and their entire body language, they try to appear as threatening as possible. It was fascinating to witness that.”
ENDS