STAG STARING MAD!
Families risk lives to get close-ups of deer
PUTTING their lives at risk for a photo, they may not realise they are getting too close to nature.
Not content with a close-up, one man even leans across a stag’s back to pose with his head between its antlers.
Yet the stags could attack at any moment, as autumn is the middle of the rutting – or mating – season, during which the males fight for female attention. Wildlife photographer Ted Shillitto said he watched as a ‘constant stream’ of walkers, many with young children, approach the deer in Wollaton Hall Park, Nottingham, to pose and even stroke them – despite warning signs.
Mr Shillitto, 70, said: ‘People don’t understand how dangerous these animals are. Half an hour before, the same deer had been hoofing the floor, threatening another stag. Someone is going to get killed – it’s seriously stupid.’
He tried to warn one group but they carried on snapping. Jerry Warnes, of the parks team at Wol- laton Hall, said warning signs were clearly displayed. ‘It’s common sense, isn’t it?’ he said. ‘We are always going up to people and telling them not to [pose with deer].’ Wollaton Park has around 200 deer. Its website warns: ‘Deer are wild animals and must be treated with respect. Any person or ani- mal invading their space at any time may be attacked. Please do not feed, touch, or photograph the deer at close proximity.’ Charles Smith- Jones, technical adviser to the British Deer Society, said: ‘People are fooled into feeling they might be tame, they are not. Give them lots of space. The Royal Parks advise 50 metres. I would advise slightly more’. The images of families larking around with the stags come days after a fashion designer was gored as she photographed deer in Richmond Park, South West London. Yuan Li, 43, suffered antler wounds her stomach and leg.