Red Deer Stag on the open hill in Winter. GMM 1323-27
The celebrated 'Monarch of the Glen', the red deer stag is a Scottish icon. This species, the largest land mammal in Britain, is widespread throughout Scotland. In summer, red deer are, as the name suggests, a dark red or brown colour with a lighter underside, while in winter they adopt a darker brown or grey hide. The stag is distinguishable from the hind by its size and impressive antlers, which it sheds each spring. With an estimated 300,000 red deer in Scotland, you are never too far away from a population. Hotspots include Galloway Forest Park, Rum and Jura, Perthshire and the Northwest Highlands. While red deer are resident year round, they tend to spend the summer up in the hills and remote glens, and move down to lower levels in the winter, where food is more readily available. Arguably the best time to see (and hear) them is during the annual rut each autumn. The loud barking and clattering of antlers echoing through the hills creates a memorable experience. During the rut, stags engage in roaring "contests", which may escalate to include parallel walking and locking of antlers. Serious injury is not an uncommon consequence of these battles for access to females. So pre-occupied are they with the rut that stags typically lose of their pre-rut body weight. Following the rut, stags and hinds typically segregate again. Calves (usually one, very rarely twins) produced as a consequence of the autumn matings are born from mid-May, with a peak of births in the 1st or 2nd week of June. Calves are usually weaned by 8 months old, by which time they have moulted out of their spotted natal coat. During the winter months stags will usually congregate in groups often on lower ranges where food is more readily available and to enable them to recover following the exertions of the Autumn rut.
Size: 6092px × 4006px
Location: Inverness-shire, Scottish Highlands. Scotland. United Kingdom.
Photo credit: © David Gowans / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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