Rutting season: See the majestic stags at Baronsdown and Cove Down Reserves

A mature red deer stag is the UK’s largest land mammal and as the days begin to shorten and temperatures start to drop, a stag’s thoughts turn to the breeding season and the annual rut. Stags will travel several miles to locate groups of hinds that they hope to woo with a display of bellowing and posturing.

Occasionally, if there are two evenly matched stags that won’t back down, they will fight, but this is a risky move as the chance of injury is high. Stags pumped on testosterone will leave their scent in muddy wallows and take out their angst on nearby trees, which other stags and hinds use to assess who else is around and what condition they are in.

The League’s Baronsdown and Cove Down reserves attract numerous stags during the rutting period, which makes a great spectacle during the day, and at nighttime the air is filled with the primal sound of stags roaring to demonstrate their prowess. If all goes well, we should see the results of the stags’ efforts next June, when deer calves are born on the reserves.