
Fallow Deer were kept at Stirling by the Scottish kings as far back as
1283.1
Early in the nineteenth century Fallow Deer were introduced to the Dunkeld
Forest by the Duke of Atholl, and they are now fairly numerous there in all the
large woods of the Tay Valley, from Blair Atholl to Stanley, and seldom stray
farther to the west than Rohallion, or to the east of the loch of Clunie. Here
they live in small parties, and are exceedingly difficult to shoot owing to their cunning,
but in a residence of twenty years in the district I generally killed one or two every
year. They are mostly of the usual type, but I have seen both black and white
examples. Their horns are short and massive. Wild Fallow Deer also occur at
Rosehall and in the Dornoch Woods in Sutherland, Kinloch Luichart, Loch Rosque,
in a few places in Central Argyll, and at Drumlanrig" in Dumfriesshire (Duke of
Buccleuch). In Ireland8 Fallow Deer roam in a wild state in many parts of
Tipperary, Clare, Galway, Waterford, and Cork. They are also found in Kerry about
Muckross, and in an island at the mouth of the Shannon in Galway.
Habits.— In parks where great numbers of Fallow Deer are kept together they
have become gregarious, but in the wild state they are not so to any extent. They
prefer to: roam about in .small parties, and have a preference for hiding in thickets
during the day, only coming out into the more open woods to feed at dawn and sunset.
As in the red deer, the two sexes generally keep apart during the greater portion
of the year. Old bucks are fond of living singly, and become extremely cunning in
their movements so much so that they are more difficult to shoot than red stags.
In all respects when Fallow Deer are turned out and left to shift for themselves
they immediately revert to the condition of their ancestors, and their habits are
similar to those now living in a wild state in Asia Minor. Keeping more closely to
the woods than red deer. Fallow Deer will take alarm more easily and lie much
closer than their larger relations. They are also far more cunning in breaking back
and heading out of woods at unexpected corners, and those who have had experience
of hunting these animals in northern woods well know the difficulty of bringing them
to bag. Even on the open hills, Fallow bucks are generally harder to stalk than red
deer. They are quicker-sighted, and move off . at once without standing at gaze
1 Innes, Scotland in the Middle Ages, p. 125.
* On this estate the Fallow Deer grow to a larger size than on any estate in Great Britain. A buck killed by Lord
Charles Scott in Drumlanrig weighed twenty-four stone as he fell and eighteen stone clean.
* Fynes Moryson (1599-1603) says that there were wild Fallow scattered in the woods about Ophalia and Wexford and
in some parts of Munster. Apparently Fallow Deer were not imported into Ireland until the Middle Ages.
for a minute as red stags generally do. Stalkers who have had a good experience
of both species generally give the palm for cleverness to the smaller animal.
While living principally on grass, Fallow Deer browse on many deciduous
trees. They are very fond of the leaves and fruit of both the horse and Spanish
chestnut. In Scotland I have seen rowan trees stripped of both leaves and
berries by Fallows to some height from the ground. Fallow Deer also like thorn
and ash bark, and when food gets scarce in winter will eat quantities of both
holly and ivy. They are more restless than red deer, and feed and lie down
more frequently, but in hot days in summer they rest during the greater part of
the day. In winter, especially during wet weather, they keep moving about the
whole day, and scatter in small parties when food is scarce.
Fallow bucks cast their horns in May, and as in the case of all other Deer,
the oldest shed first and so on to the prickets, which drop theirs about the end
of June. In Fallow bucks the new growth is not nearly so far advanced when
the old horn is about to fall as with red stags; sometimes it is hardly noticeable,
at other times the swelling stands out round the coronet. The growth proceeds
during May, June, July, and August, as with red deer, the horns being complete
and rubbed clean in English parks from the ist to the 30th of August, and
generally a fortnight to three weeks later than the larger species.
The season of love and war does not take place in September, as stated in so
many works, but in October. Of this period of the Fallow Deer’s life I think it
is best to quote from a former work,1 as my notes were all taken on the spot:
‘ The rutting season lasts a very short time, though the big bucks begin
bustling one another about and trying their horns almost as soon as they are
clean. One seldom sees a really good set-to until a big buck has monopolised a
bunch of does, and another comes to try conclusions with him. About the first
week in October the necks of the big bucks swell greatly, and they become more
and more unsettled among themselves, till the 25th of that month, when we
generally hear the first calls. The rutting cry of the Fallow buck is neither
melodious nor awe-inspiring like the yawning roar of the stag. It is half a
grunt and half a deep-toned bark, and can be heard at a distance of two miles
if the day is still. When the buck produces the sound the head is not carried
aloft and neck stretched as with the stag, or in any position as with the roebuck.
It is held if anything below its normal angle, and jerked upwards slightly as
the call is emitted. When very savage the buck will sometimes trot round and
1 B ritish Deer and their Horns, pp. 15 2-154.