Photo-a-Day  (Wednesday, 13th August, 2025)

Beautiful animals?, I saw one as I was walking over the fields near to the wood but it quickly disappeared.Seen one oover Hindley Golf course as well,could hardly distinguish it from the bracken it was surrounded by.

Well it's a male deer and looking at those Antlers I'd be more frightened.
Excellent photo John.

No denying it John, this a quite exceptional photo.
Fallow deer with their quite distinctive antlers were originally brought over by the Romans from the western Mediterranean along with Rabbits and Sycamore Trees.
However they became extinct after the Romans left.
They were reintroduced in the 11th Century and kept in deer parks, prized for their venison. Over a period of time they escaped and now like many deer species, once a rare sight can bee seen all over the country.

This is a Fallow Deer, you don't see many of them around our area, the only time I've seen them is in Cumbria.

Well done John, getting such a good photo, look at those antlers !

It's got one eye on you John! Lovely to see the deer at such close quarters. Thank you.

That is a great catch John, I bet you had a shock seeing this well fed animal….there must be very rich pickings in Borsdane wood. I believe the deer escaped from Deer Parks. I’ve only actually seen Deer in Scotland but I have seen photos on here of them in the woods near Haigh Hall.
“The fallow deer is an elegant, medium-sized deer, with a typically spotted coat. Males have broad, palmate antlers. During the autumnal breeding season, known as the 'rut', males make a loud belly belch to proclaim their territory and fight over the females. This display may involve groaning and stylised walking, but often results in dangerous, physical contact as they lock antlers. The resulting fawns are born the following summer.
Fallow deer prefer deciduous or mixed woodland with large clearings, typically living in small herds. They are also common in many deer parks throughout the country. They eat grasses and herbs, and will browse young, broadleaf trees.”
From ( free) Wikipedia

Sorry, put question mark by mistake.

Now Irene, don’t get any ideas about making a hat and coat out of this!

Best not to have named the location. By tomorrow that head will be somebody’s wall and they’ll be eating venison for the next three weeks.

This is a superb photo! I hope Maureen sees this as she loves animals. Thankyou John.

Unusual to see them around Wigan.

Fantastic photo John, well done and right on our doorstep.

I’d zoomed in 3+ but still to close for comfort and the deer certainly wasn’t eating grass as it walked in my direction with its head down seconds before and I was just debating how and where to grab it’s antlers if it was to charge when I stepped back on to a twig which made a loud crack and off they ran there was four and they disappeared in seconds.