Hiding place of no return; Petworth House, Sussex, is renowned for having the largest enclosed hard of fallow deer in the world. This most natural of parks is open to the public for them to come and see some of the finest examples of it's breed on display. For such animals living in this day and age, even the enclosure cannot assure their safety, for each year brings the hazards of living in today's environment. Between mid June and July, the mother carries her fawn and leaves it in the long grass, a habit of nature which allows it to protect it's young while seeking food. Although the public are welcome, they have in fact contributed to the death of many of the young fawns. For most of the public it is an outing to enjoy the surroundings and view the Dear, but many are irresponsible and allow their dogs to chase after Deer and scare them away from possible hiding places of their fawns. This can be fatal for the fawn for if a mother has not had time to identify her young then the chances of there returning to the exact spot are almost nil. Many of the Deer are so scared that they dare not return. The fawns only hope is for a warden to find it but in most cases the fawn is too weak to recover. Station officers of the park, hope eventually to educate the public into realizing the ritual that takes place and feel it would be unfair to stop the public from seeing them during the period in which it is most common. The park also has an international contract to export it's Deer aboard, mainly to Europe, so that the quality of the hard can be maintained. Photo Shows Udo Rugge chases a fawn from out of its (illegible) so he can try to identify it.
Photo measures 10 x 8 inches.
Photo is dated --none.
Photo back:
