Shooting Times & Country Magazine
BEWARE THE MUNTJAC
These alien deer can be aggressive to dogs
During lockdown I have been walking the same ground with my dogs on a daily basis.
It’s debatable whether the walks have been for the benefit of the dogs or me, but I suspect that we have all enjoyed and benefited from the routine of daily outdoor exercise.
I’ve always had an interest in birdsong, so on all of my walks I make a mental note of the birds I hear. It’s been a good year for cuckoos in my corner of Suffolk, and I’ve heard them every day since I registered the first bird calling on 22 April. A fellow dog-walker had heard one 10 days earlier, but I suspect that this was a passing individual, as it certainly didn’t linger.
But, though beanbags may have been the favoured form of bed in the Tomlinson household, numerous other beds have been bought, tried and tested over the years.
We often have canine visitors, all of whom bring their own beds with them. My dogs will instantly abandon their own bed in favour of trying out the visitor’s bed — seeing a full-size springer squeezing into a bed designed for a cavalier always brings a smile. I’m not sure whether sampling the visitor’s bed is all that it seems. It could be something to do with dominance: you’ve moved into my territory, so I’m going to sleep in your bed.
Sleeping in luxury
The dogs have never had a so-called luxury bed until now. The death of a friend’s dog means that they have inherited his expensive bed. Apart from being stylish, it features memory foam, though whether they will appreciate such a feature remains to be seen. They certainly like it and are happy to sleep in it. A minus point is that it is heavy, and removing and replacing the covers is tedious and time consuming. It is British designed, but made in China.
Currently, much their favourite bed is a Barka Parka, a thoroughly British product made in Butleigh in Somerset by Emma Aitken and
Garden warblers have also enjoyed a good spring, and I’ve noted seven different territories on my walks — more than I’ve found in previous years.
One bird I haven’t heard this year is a nightingale, despite the fact that I live in an area that, until the turn of the century, had a good population. The reason for their disappearance is almost certainly loss of habitat caused by muntjac. These small, alien deer browse woodland vegetation at just the level where nightingales nest.
Muntjac are delicious to eat: it’s a great shame that more of them don’t end up as venison. If it wasn’t for the hassle of requiring a firearms certificate I would take up stalking tomorrow. Muntjac can become remarkably bold where they aren’t shot, but never, ever let your dog chase one, as they are arguably the most dangerous wild animal we have. A cornered muntjac buck won’t hesitate to attack a dog, and with its sharp, curved
Richard Burdett. Though Barka Parka beds started in Australia more than 40 years ago, Emma and Richard took over the company in January last year, giving the traditional beanbag a subtle but effective redesign. The beds are round and available in a variety of sizes to suit any breed of dog, from a papillon to an Irish wolfhound.
There’s a choice of filling, with either polystyrene beans or Biofoam eco-beans. The latter are made from plant extract and can be composted at the end of their life. From a human point of view, the bed’s plus points include its toughness (it may not be canine teeth can inflict considerable damage or even kill.
While I don’t enjoy seeing muntjac, I do delight in watching roe. I regularly encounter the same young buck on my walks. He has become so used to seeing me and my spaniels that we can get remarkably close to him before he moves off. My photo was taken at 6am on a recent sunny morning. indestructible but it comes close) and a cover that’s simple to remove for washing (at 40°C). It’s elasticated, with no fiddly zips, so you can take it off and put it back on again in seconds. It also looks exceedingly smart.
The bed of choice
A Barka Parka Maharaja bed costs a reasonable £55 and comes with a three-year guarantee. If looked after it should last the life of the dog, if not longer. The real test of a bed is giving dogs a choice to see which one they like best: the Barka Parka consistently comes out as their bed of choice.