Wednesday 19 January 2022

Red Deer Traces

The Red Deer Cervus elaphus (Fr. Cerf élaphe) population in the Touraine Loire Valley is thriving. I rarely see the animals themselves though. Just the evidence of their activities.

Red Deer Cervus elaphus footprints, Indre et Loire, France. Photo by Loire Valley Time Travel.
Red deer tracks.

Pine trees with bark damage from deer cleaning antlers, Indre et Loire, France. Photo by Loire Valley Time Travel.
Damage to the bark of these pine trees, indicated by the reddish patches, is caused by the stags rubbing their foreheads and antlers on the trunks, to remove velvet, scent mark and strengthen neck muscles.

Red deer Cervus elaphus stag, Chambord estate, Loir et Cher, France. Photo by Loire Valley Time Travel.
Red Deer stag on the Chambord estate, photographed a few years ago.

2 comments:

bonnie groves poppe said...

I have seen a couple of what I think are these deer during my years here, both times leaping across the road in front of my car. Once in the Herault, near Saint-Chinian, and the other time somewhere in the middle of France, kind of lost on some little track road in the forest. They looked reddish and were big!
bonnie in provence

Susan said...

bonnie: yes I've once had hind cross in front of me, in the middle of the day, in the forest.

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