Roe Deer

Not really a local sighting, but I can't resist including it none the less as it also fits the casual wildife sightings criteria. While teaching a shark course at a school in Crawley on Saturday (19 th January) I came face to face with a roe deer. The deer had been resting in the old overgrown willdife area. During lunch break, while the children were playing on the playground just the other side of the hedge with my fellow Tutor Felicity, I decided to take some photographs for a course I will be running in the summer. This means preparing a habitat map before hand so I took the chance to make a start. As I came round the back of the wildlife area I noticed the deer, infact I think we were both just as surprised to see each other. The deer sprange up and easily leapt the fence before galloping off across the field to the gate that led to the woods. It is not uncommon for roe deer to be solitary. I had been told that deer occasionally come into the grounds but I did not expect to see one in he middle of the day. I mentioned this encounter to the caretaker and he said that one morning last year he arrived at the school to find a mother deer giving birth.