Wild Red Deer on Industrial Estate

[Joonsy]

Just to show you don’t have to be in the middle of nowhere to see wild deer, I saw these seven red deer today only 30 yards away from a large very busy industrial estate. Actually I see them regularly they are often there, there are large numbers of them (up to 100 have been counted). Inbetween the area of three large towns, Cannock/Brownhills/Burntwood in Staffordshire there is a large busy industrial estate and this is where they are often seen merrily grazing away on the verges while people go about their work only yards away, it’s a bit surreal watching red deer while only yards away all the commotion of a busy industrial estate is going on. Over the years they have wandered out from Cannock Chase and have now been resident by the industrial estate for some years. The photo looks like I was a long way from them because it was only taken on a mobile phone but actually I was only twenty yards from them (i don't own a proper camera), also the photo makes it look wilder than it really is, it is in fact a very congested area of busy roads and factories.

you'll do well to spot them but there is seven red deer in this photo

Right in the centre of pic below (google earth) you will see a main road running horizontally between two islands, my photo was taken right by the island on the left of pic. The deer are often seen all over the industrial estate.

 

[sxmolloy]

That's really cool. I travel from Preston to Blackpool each day for work and often see a small number of deer very close to the tracks about half way through my journey. The train doesn't seem to startle them, they just look at it with an expression of "oh here's another one".

 

[Joonsy]

That's really cool. I travel from Preston to Blackpool each day for work and often see a small number of deer very close to the tracks about half way through my journey. The train doesn't seem to startle them, they just look at it with an expression of "oh here's another one".

Thanks for reply sxmolloy, yes I know what you mean, there is a railway line here running from Hednesford to Rugeley and it’s not uncommon to see fallow deer out of the window of the train right next to the line, in fact they regularly cross it and a few have been hit and killed by trains. I have actually found dead bucks right next to the line myself that have come a cropper when walking alongside it. ATB

 

[bopdude]

I saw six the other night, similar to your experience, right next to a busy industrial estate although on the opposite side of the road the traffic was busy and they were happily grazing away, this is just outside Corby.

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[Disco1]

We have small deer come into the village where I live not often but sometimes.

 

[Joonsy]

I saw six the other night, similar to your experience, right next to a busy industrial estate although on the opposite side of the road the traffic was busy and they were happily grazing away, this is just outside Corby.

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We have small deer come into the village where I live not often but sometimes.

Thanks for your replies Bopdude & Disco1 deer seem to like industrial estates more than people Bopdude. Having watched deer for about 40 years it’s noticeable there has been a massive rise in the deer population, I am now seeing them regularly in places where I never used to see any at all years ago. Disco1 I’m guessing by saying ''small'' deer you may be referring to ''muntjac'', they are really common by me there are loads of them, the folks in one of the houses not far away had a big surprise one day when one managed to get into their house through the open patio doors, it made the local newspaper at the time. ATB

 

[falcon]

Thanks for this Joonsey.....I think I've just identified the location on my OS map and it seems to correspond with a location a friend tried to describe to me a while ago. I'm only 15 miles or so to the north west and really need to get over for a view...perhaps take in the adjacent birding spot too...

 

[Joonsy]

Thanks for this Joonsey.....I think I've just identified the location on my OS map and it seems to correspond with a location a friend tried to describe to me a while ago. I'm only 15 miles or so to the north west and really need to get over for a view...perhaps take in the adjacent birding spot too...

You’re welcome Falcon. The exact location where that photo of those red deer is:- Chasewater Industrial Estate, Milestone Way (the A5190). If you look on the OS map, you will see Chasewater Heath Railway Station (it’s a visitor attraction known as the ‘Colliery Line’, it’s not a mainline), there is a café and a road traffic island by the station, from that island take the road going north east towards ‘Chase Terrace’ which is called Milestone Way. After a couple of hundred yards you will come to a second road island, immediately to the right of that second island is where the photo I posted was taken. It’s a patch of rough land. If you were to drive straight on from that island after another couple of hundred yards you come to an entrance to the industrial estate on the right which is called Miners Way, there is a grass verge right on that entrance with a long blue advertising board on the grass, the deer are often seen on that patch of grass just behind that blue board. Only two weeks ago I saw five red deer lying down on that grass just behind that blue board at about ten o’ clock in the morning. There is a portacabin café on Miners Way just by that grass with some rough land around it and I have seen them there too.

A bit more about the Red Deer. All around that area there are areas of rough scruffy looking ground, the red deer can be seen all over the area at times. They are often seen all around the Chasewater Reservoir area. The very busy road from Heath Hayes to Chase Terrace (the A5190) is bordered by scrubby marshy ground and you often see deer along that road, there is a big scrubby marshy area just north of that road by Biddulph’s Pool island called Cuckoo Bank which holds a good herd of red deer. Just south of the A5 road i have seen them on Brownhills Common and Holland Park and on both sides of the canal by Wyrley Common. ---- There is some speculation as to where these deer originally came from, I suspect Cannock Chase myself, many years ago Cannock Chase held a small population of Red Deer in the south-east area (as well as a very large fallow deer population in the north-west areas) in the late eighties/early 90s they were starting to be seen further afield and there are now good numbers of them in the areas mentioned above. On the Chase itself I have seen Reds in the Beaudesert Old Park area (this part of the chase has dense conifer plantations though there has been a fair bit of tree felling recently) just east of Horsepasture Pool is a good place for them and I have seen big Red stags on Stile Cop Field by Wandon.

Red Deer stags seen at Cuckoo Bank in 2012, which is about 1 kilometre north-west of the industrial estate I mentioned (not my photo i should add)

A couple of vids on the red deer in the areas mentioned above:-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oK_nyjybXYs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3zHB8qol5Y

 

[falcon]

Wow....I'd matched your photo with the OS map and Google Earth but your local knowledge puts the icing on it...many many thanks. When my lad's off work we'll do some exploring and the rut should be awesome!

 

[falcon]

Well my lad has a day off tomorrow so we're off to Cannock Chase and these locations to see what we can find....

 

[falcon]

A wonderful wander around the park next to Chasewater found the big boy after he'd rested up for a couple of hours. A very friendly local photographer shared his knowledge with us and we also chatted about wildlife site known to us both across the Midlands..

He wandered around the valley, shifted a Prickett (sp) and eventually drifted back whence he came


A fabulous experience and many thanks Joonsey for your help

 

[Joonsy]

That’s really wonderful Falcon glad you managed to see the red deer, some great photos of that stag thankyou very much for posting them. Sounds like you had a rewarding day hope your lad enjoyed his day off work too. Incidentally the rut is almost upon us and the nearby Cannock Chase is a great place to see the fallow deer rut, most years i see the rut either on Cannock Chase or the Wyre Forest. ATB

 

[_Matt_]

I lives a few miles from there and there is a bit of a wooded area (few square miles or something) surrounded with agricultural land where they can be seen daily and you can get pretty close to them without them being bothered. They can often be seen in the crop fields surrounding the area. I just assumed they were owned by whoever owns the land around there.

 

[falcon]

That’s really wonderful Falcon glad you managed to see the red deer, some great photos of that stag thankyou very much for posting them. Sounds like you had a rewarding day hope your lad enjoyed his day off work too. Incidentally the rut is almost upon us and the nearby Cannock Chase is a great place to see the fallow deer rut, most years i see the rut either on Cannock Chase or the Wyre Forest. ATB

Hi Joonsy, glad you've caught up with this. I had to rush my post and should have said the picture quality was lacking due to using zoom on my phone but John managed a few with the iPhone through his scope which have cropped reasonably well....this one shows the antler points in more detail.

A local guy was extremely helpful. We talked for probably an hour about the local red deer....apparently this stag had a major confrontation with another larger stag the previous day after which the other one trotted away rather than take over the half dozen hinds belonging to this one. The guy takes high quality wildlife photographs and we compared notes on many sites around Shropshire and Staffordshire known to us both.

I tend to view the Fallow rut around the Wrekin and usually find some activity. All the best..

 

[Tengu]

Ive never seen urban red deer but where I come from in Wiltshire there are roe and muntjacs in town.

 

[Cl34rL1ghtArti5t]

I made this video with my Sony Xperia mobile phone camera yesterday.. This is 40 m from very used and crowded public path around pond, where people jogg, walk, walk their dogs...
So game needs only little dense vegetation to feel safe
.. Remarkable
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=TLPMWBbNPOg