To be a stag in October

We went to Killarney National Park this morning to photograph the annual rutting. This is when stags come down from the mountain and look for romance and court any nearby female deer. And they’re quite vocal about it.

This particular guy was on one side of the tarmac path occupied by us human photographers, and it didn’t occur to us that he wanted to get to the other side, where a large group of younger stags and some does had gathered.

In frustration, he bellowed, pawed the ground, and ripped grass from the ground.

When we finally realised what he wanted, we made a hasty exit to the side. We watched this huge, powerful creature walk over ground we recently vacated.

Unfortunately, the other deer, male and female, all ran from him. None stayed around to challenge him. If you look carefully, you’ll see his right eye is weeping and injured. He has lost the use of that eye, whether through infection or injury, but it hasn’t slowed him down.

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