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This photo of a young fawn taken last year at Ross Castle while I was unloading the boot, I have never been this close to a young deer before. Photo: Jerry Keating

By Jerry Keating

The red deer of Killarney are our only native red deer in Ireland. The famous herd in Killarney consists of about 700 animals. Although there are other herds present in other parts of the country they have been augmented with introduced animals.

The red deer are Ireland’s largest land animals, they have a reddish-brown coat, which changes to a brownish-grey in winter with a creamy patch on the rump and a short beige tail. Stags (males) can reach up to 48 inches of the shoulder and weigh up to 495 lbs and sport large branched antlers. These antlers start to grow in early summer each year and reach maximum size and peak condition towards the end of September ready for sparing with rivals doing the annual rite. Antlers are shed between February and April the following year.

During the rut, dominant stags assemble a harem of between ten and fifteen hinds (females) and will defend them against all camps.

Most encounters between stags are settled without fighting. Weaker stags are generally out-bellowed by the more vocal dominant males and stand down. However, if evenly matched, males come head to head, then a fight is inevitable. The stags will repeatedly lock antlers and attempt to push each other backwards, but the fighting is ritualised to avoid serious injury, but sometimes injuries do occur, such as eye loss or punctured wounds. Winning stags will mate with every native hind in their harem, while the losers are forced to join a bachelor group and will fail to mate all that year.

After a gestation period of 34 weeks hinds give birth to a single calf. Red deer calves are well developed when born and are able to walk within an hour of birth. Stags meanwhile will continue to take advantage of the summer months when vegetation is in full growth and this help them to grow a new set of antlers for the next mating season.

The red deer’s primary predator in Ireland used to be the wolf, as there are no wolves now they were exterminated nearly 200 years ago. Now they are fully protected by law. The biggest threat to the red deer in Killarney is the danger of cross breeding with the Siltra deer, which was introduced from Japan in the nineteenth century. So far the red deer herd in Killarney are closely monitored and a high priority placed on maintaining the genetic purity of the Killarney herd. We are all greatly indebted to the Department of Habitats and Wildlife in Killarney who protects the deer.

As a fisherman, fishing the Lakes of Killarney for nearly forty years, I am privileged to see deer in their natural habitat. They are indeed very beautiful creatures, but they are very shy and frighten easily. When I go fishing to the Killarney Lakes the amount of bird wildlife I see is wonderful and creates a wonderland of the joys that nature provides. It gives me a great sense of joy and well-being and of course I feel at peace with the whole World for those few precious hours and consider the day on the Lakes a stolen moment in time.

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