Western Daily Press (Saturday)
Tours take you close to the hart
Deer park tours have been launched in the West. Martin Hesp finds out how to get close up and personal
ANIMAL-LOVERS from far and wide come to the Westcountry hills to catch glimpses of our wild deer herds, but now there is a way of getting altogether closer and more personal…
A young Devon couple who’ve spent years working with deer are now running tours at two Westcountry estates – at Bovey Castle and at Dartington – which allow people to get very close to park deer and even help feed rescued or abandoned fawns.
The daily tours being run by Victoria and Mark Heyes cover the lifecycle, history and seasonal behaviour of fallow deer. Visitors are also shown how an estate can include deer in its conservation plan by
managing both the animals and land for the benefit of biodiversity.
“Thanks to our experience in the Highlands of Scotland following our lifelong passion for deer and conservation, we now find ourselves in a position where we are able to share our adventures and experiences with the public through our unique deer feeding tours,” says Victoria.
“The respect and trust that we have built up with our animals allows us to safely engage the public within feet of a magnificent deer herd.
“Basically, we are working towards a balanced agricultural business - which is productive whilst being sustainable and good for the environment,” she added.
“Through our own family experience of critical illness care, we have personally felt the benefits and sense of well-being through spending time with these animals in inspirational surroundings at Bovey Castle and at the Dartington Estate.”
A spokesman for the hotel and estate at Bovey Castle said: “Baby fawns are being born all the time right now - and we are doing daily tours so that visitors can get close to our 120 park deer and learn all about them.”
At Dartington a spokesperson said: “We run tours around the Dartington Deer Park twice a week to give visitors a chance to get up close to the beautiful fallow deer. The tours give a chance to walk around the 66-acre historic medieval deer park, learn about conservation and meet the deer.”
Victoria and Mark also allow people to enjoy the experience of feeding rescued fawns which have been abandoned.
“We also provide educational days for local school, home educators and special needs groups,” said Victoria. “You can also maybe help us bottle feed our rescue deer fawns or maybe some deer park yoga.”
To find out more about what exactly deer park tours entail visit www.facebook.com/WildHartDartington/
Or to join a deer park tour at Bovey Castle see www.boveycastle.com/ deer-park-at-bovey-castle/ be flowering on hedges and cliff tops and has become part of our flora. Birds also play their part when they feed on berries. Hence some cotoneasters have established themselves in the wild and are causing concern because of the damage to native plants that result from their takeover.
The group’s scope is much wider than just “wild” flowers in the garden and “garden” flowers in the wild. With awe-inspiring pictures and a fascinating mix of geography and botany, I’m finding there’s always plenty to arouse curiosity, evoke memories or lift the spirit above the usual dross of social media.