We get some wee deer that wander past the house – usually at exactly 8am. Yesterday afternoon I disturbed one in the courtyard when I was leaving the house and he wandered off at not too frantic a pace and in the dim light I though there was something up with its face.

Today he wandered right past the window (they usually don’t come closer than about 100 yard) and theres obviously something very up with his face (or hers – difficult to tell in winter)

Clearly not going to be a happy bunny, I’d imagine a pair of tweezers and a shot of antibiotics would have him right as rain but I just have to assume theres nothing to be done if we can’t catch him. Unless he actually keels over on our doorstep, he only has to take two steps into the wood beside the house to vanish.

Think I’ll go and have a look for him in the morning incase he’s down but not out. I don’t have a gun but is there any other course of action?

Edit – i don’t know why that pictures turned through 90 degree – weird

thats better

Looks at he hill it has to climb, no wonder it’s tired.

Might be worth giving the RSPCA a call? Although I doubt there’s much they can do unless you know it’s whereabouts.

I’d have thought the RSPCA would have an address on its website.

We had an injured fox in the garden. RSPCA said unless you could poke it with a broom handle and it didn’t run off they weren’t interested as they can never catch wild animals that are still mobile.

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Davesport +1, Do you have a friend with a rifle (who knows how to use it)?

Where are you located?

That’s hard to tell from the photo, however it looks like an abcess ( I am in no way a vet).

Hope you can do something.

We’re in Ayrshire – I’ll mention it to the ground man (reluctantly – its very difficult to start a conversation then find a way to stop it again) and suggest he tells the gameskeepers to look out for it. Got the SSPCA no. to hand if we do happen upon it somewhere between collapsed and dead but I concur that a bullet is probably kinder than a needle.

Hard to tell from the photo – but yes it looks like either a tumour/abcess on its jaw, or a perruque head (antler deformation, but I think its probably a doe anyway, can’t see any coronets)

if you can’t find anyone quickly, I could probably put you in touch with someone who would be happy to help out to prevent it suffering via the deerstalking forum I’m a member of.

Ta, if the groundsman can’t come up with someone then I might take you up on that, a friend is a deer-shootist but he’s not quite local enough given how in his own experience you can spend all day shooting red deer and spend all week not shooting roe.

Do you have permission from the police to shoot on your land? Although I guess some shooters might be willing to do it regardless of that.

Its a sporting estate – not my land but the keepers would be working for the estate

Cool, shouldn’t be hard then. The gamekeepers will have a rifle or possibly some deer slugs for their shotguns.

A lot of experienced stalkers have an “open condition” on their certificate, so the land would not necessarily need police clearance, and even then in the case of putting an animal out of its misery then normal rules don’t necessarily apply (eg. it would be legal to use a shotgun in such a circumstance)

You need to get within 20 yards with heavy buckshot to be cerrtain of killing a deer humanely. Wouldn’t be very nice if it crawled onto the OP’s door and dragged blood all up his drive lol

Wouldn’t be very nice if it crawled onto the OP’s door and dragged blood all up his drive lol

at 20 yards I’d be more concerned at how much pressure that puss is under

Please don’t let it suffer. 😥

Of course I’m very jealous of your high standard of wildlife!

Please don’t let it suffer.

This. I love deer. 🙁 They are such harmless lovely things and we need to protect them as much as we can. Have you tried any of the animal charities? Do that before you get someone to kill it. If it’s a doe remember that it might have young that rely on it. (I’m no expert on deer so don’t know if this is baby deer season but..)

If it’s looking for food couldn’t you lure it into a pen or a shed and at least keep it there until you can call an animal charity vet?

Hard to know what to suggest with the deer, I’d imagine it would be fairly easy lure and tranquillise but if RSPCA aren’t interested you may be stuck. Are there any other animal charities near by or a specialist vet who might be able to assist ? Sadly this is nature at work.

@wwasawas, why would you rescue a fox ? They are a pest and we are overrun with them.

My mate used to live in quite a rural setting close to woodland. His neighbour used to be the release spot for foxes that hd been nursed back to health. I wouldn’t consider them a pest at all

This. I love deer. They are such harmless lovely things and we need to protect them as much as we can. Have you tried any of the animal charities? Do that before you get someone to kill it. If it’s a doe remember that it might have young that rely on it. (I’m no expert on deer so don’t know if this is baby deer season but..)

Deer are not harmless. Deer properly screw up vegetation and forest regeneration. Deer are vermin. Shoot it.

Have you tried any of the animal charities? Do that before you get someone to kill it

They can’t help an animal they can’t find or catch – got their number if I do find it stricken, but thats maybe an awful lot of suffering to get to that state

Of course I’m very jealous of your high standard of wildlife!

We are very blessed, aside from the 8am gang, we’ve got tawny owls, hares, woodpeckers, bats, otters and

……

…..

my little friendy

Deer are not harmless. Deer properly screw up vegetation and forest regeneration.

broadly yes, but round here no there are miles and miles of un-improvable mire here, plenty for what few deer there are round here to chew on and little of value that they can damage

is it not just eating a really big toffee?

Gosh darned Khat addict

but round here no there are miles and miles of un-improvable mire here

Ayrshire? 😉

Yeah if they say they’re happy to help it then you could try and lure it into a pen or shed or something.

@wwasawas, why would you rescue a fox ? They are a pest and we are overrun with them.

You might be but here by the seaside they add a bit of countryside chic to what would otherwise be wall to wall seagulls and starlings.

And regardless of their numbers no animal should be left to suffer and die because it’s been hit by a car “but we think they’re a pest so what the hell let’s leave it slowly expiring in the garden”.

my little friendy

That little shrew/vole type creature is unbelievably cute, however you do realise it’s something elses lunch.

Did you see the doe today?

Any news?

?

Some bloke came into the pub last night selling 8 deer legs.

he wanted £20 a leg.

I thought it was too dear. (2 deer, get it?)

Coat please!

That little shrew/vole type creature is unbelievably cute, however you do realise it’s something elses lunch.

He was more prone to getting munched than any critter – i didn’t catch him – he’s not much bigger than the end of my thumb but we could see him bumbling about from about 100 yards away. Walked up, put my hand out and he sniffed it and just climbed on and sat down. Daft as a brush.

Any news?

I’ve been away for the weekend but groundsman and keepers have all been keeping an look out of the patient.

Surely eating it’s a very bad idea unless you know what it’s dying of?

I’ve a half remembered conversation about roadkill with my parents neighbor (who shoot’s 10’s/hundreds of deer a year), something along the lines of it shouldn’t be eaten (as there’s plenty of good meat going about) but if you’re going to, only if the deer ran out in front of you, if it was stood in the road going nowhere you’ve n idea what it was already dying of (and the usual rule of thumb of discarding the 1/4 of the carcass that you hit with the car.

He did have a chuckle at countryfile going ‘stalking’ with an expert and only getting within a km or so of some deer. He just goes out, and either sits in a tree near a watersource and waits for nightfall and picks them off, or makes some vague deer noises and waits for them to come to him.

He did have a chuckle at countryfile going ‘stalking’ with an expert and only getting within a km or so of some deer. He just goes out, and either sits in a tree near a watersource and waits for nightfall and picks them off, or makes some vague deer noises and waits for them to come to him.

My deer stalker friend just gets up early drives to a layby and shoot them from inside the car. He only goes through the crawling on your belly in the heather pantomime if someones paying to do the same thing.

My money’s on an abcess – in which case there is a relatively good chance that it will burst and then heal up of it’s own accord.