I’ve just got back from a fascinating little night-time walk around the fields behind my house.
Scarlett has been a bit unsettled and grizzly this evening, so in an attempt to calm her down and bring some peace to the house I put her in the baby carrier, grabbed a torch and went out into the dark for a stroll. At the top of the field the torchlight picked up the eyeshine of a small group of animals.
Spotting wildlife after dark can be easier than during the day, provided you have a torch, as the eyeshine is visible at long distances and even in quite thick undergrowth. Nocturnal animals have an extra reflective layer called the tapetum lucidum at the back of the eye to capture all available light. This helps them to see better in the dark but it also makes them more visible. The exact colour of the reflection varies with species, and experienced observers can identify animals solely from the colour of their eyeshine. Non-nocturnal animal such as humans do not have this reflective layer, so in a strong light their eyes will tend to reflect the red of the blood vessels at the back of the eye, hence the familiar ‘red eye’ effect in flash photography.
I had no camera, binoculars or any of my usual wildlife watching kit with me, but for the sheer fun of it I decided to see how close I could get to these animals. It seemed odd to be stealthily stalking animals at night while shining a light in their faces, but they were remarkably unbothered by it. As I got closer I was surprised to see that the animals were five Chinese Water Deer. I’ve always thought of these as a solitary species. You sometimes see two in the same field, but they tend to maintain an air of indifference to each other. Yet there they were, five of them clustered together and looking and acting for all the world like a small herd. This was definitely new behaviour to me.
Despite the torchlight they were feeding happily – content but still wary. They’d graze for a few seconds and then raise their head to check around them. Either by chance or design there was always at least one deer in the group scanning for danger at all times. Over a space of ten minutes or so I managed to get within 50 yards of them, which is closer than I could do in daylight, before a muntjac barked a few fields away and they all bolted.
It was an interesting little walk that opened up all sorts of possibilities. I learnt that deer are much more approachable after dark. I learnt that Chinese Water Deer seem to have a more complex social life than I’d suspected. Most importantly I learnt that going out for a stroll is a good way to get a grizzly baby to settle down. I suspect there’ll be a few more of these short nocturnal walks over the coming months. Next time I’ll remember to take a camera.
Tales from the Wood - The Diary of a Badger Watching Man 
Delighted to hear Scarlett is taking an interest!
I did some night work last winter with my Forestry C Ranger mates. We used lamps mostly but did some thermal image work too. Its a differant and magical world to that of twilight as anyone who has taken a walk on a moonlit night in a snow mantled wood would say. Wildlife is a little more tolerant as though they know we are sensory numb once darkness has fallen. Of course its harder to make a quieter passage underfoot, but they seem more settled with nightime rustlings than they would in the day. Apex Naturalist Chris Ferris mastered the night without any mechanical assistance and ‘trained’ her eyes to see nearly as well as in daylight over many years. A handy trick is to use your peripheral vission as there are more rods located in your eyes at this angle. Same goes for looking through optics in low light. We found that Deer would rest, nap and chew cud a lot more than we expected. Literature would tell you they feed frantically through the night. We saw many Badgers on the hoof a long way from their Setts.
A static light source causes little alarm in most cases especially if illuminated slowly. Perhaps they think it the moon! An erratic waving one is not tolerated. Some people prefer coloured filters such as red or green. Slow panning of course is needed to catch the eye shine.
I have not had much experience with CWDeer. Roe are thought to be solitary excepting a doe with kids but often in open fields they will collect in groups. Maybe its the same with CWD. Security possibily?
Enjoy your nocturnal ramblings. I wish my dad had packed me through the woods as a baby, he used to put me on the back seat of the car and drive me around till I shut up.
Ah yes, I’ve heard of the driving in the car trick. I decided to display my independence from the internal combustion engine by walking whenever I could.
You’re right though Ghillie, there is a whole new world after dark. I rarely use a torch at night, mostly because I find you don’t really need one, particularly in the south east of England where there is usually enough light pollution to see by on cloudy nights. It’s been an odd source of pride that I can get around after dark.
I’ve also avoided using a torch to minimise disturbance to the wildlife, although having stood and watched the deer by torchlight I may have been too cautious. Provided the local keeper doesn’t get me arrested for lamping and suspected poaching I’ll have to try it again.
As for Scarlett, alas Hedgehog Fan, she slept through it all again. Never mind. If she grows up comfortable in the outdoors then I’ll be happy.
Aye, thats right. Us Badger Watchers stay late into the dark hours so we can slip away without disturbance. We get time to adjust to the oncoming night and so rarely have need for a torch on familiar ground. In the back blocks especially in thicket forestry its a differant matter. Under Canopy in the North its pitch black. Then I have to use a torch, if anything to stop falling over blowdown or into hidden drainage. Even so I don’t use one unless I have to for travel to or from a location and then only at my feet so I use a Streamlight Pen, very narrow beam, to illuminate my immediate footing. Only just recently in a fair chunk of Scots Pine I thought I knew I got turned fully 180 coming out on the same side I went in on [I was travelling through].That was in daylight. So safety is an issue at times. One wrong step and it could mean broken bones or worse.
But on open ground in the south at night ,its probably lighter than it is up here in the North in the day :]