Tales from the Wood – The Diary of a Badger Watching Man

The Chinese Water Deer in the garden

I’ve been laid up with the ‘flu for a few days so I’m taking it easy at the moment.  Fortunately the wildlife seems to be coming to me today.

We often sit in our living room and watch the birds on the feeders.  Today, the usual tits, goldfinches, blackbirds and robins have been joined by a new visitor.  A Chinese Water Deer has taken up residence on my lawn.  It’s been sitting there for the last hour or so at least, quietly chewing the cud.

Chinese Water Deer are fairly common around here.  They’re scarce outside Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire, but they are slowly expanding their range.  They are yet another foreign species that escaped from the Woburn Estate.

Feeding under the bird table

This one is a shaggy old beast.  I don’t know if CWD grow a winter coat, but this one certainly seems to be hairier than most.  It is difficult to tell males from females with CWD (i.e. I can’t do it) as they both have the same tusks.

I like this.  I can now watch the local wildlife from the comfort of my sofa, so the deer is welcome to stay if it wants somewhere peaceful to sit and digest.  On the other hand, perhaps this is just a reflection on how much of a wilderness my garden is at the moment.