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The Essex Naturalist
March - Bucks separate from does. Roadkills may increase at this time, The
winter coat begins to he shed. March 1st - close season for does-
April - Bucks cast antlers.
May - May 1st - close season for bucks. Deer go to fields to feed on grass and
crops.
June - Fawns born in the first or second week. Does may move to woodland
to fawn.
July - Bucks in velvet. They lie up in cornfields to avoid biting insects. July
31 st - end of close season for backs.
August - Bucks still in velvet.
September - Harvest time. Ploughing and combine harvesters. Deer may move to
woods. Prepare to rut.
October - Deer lie up in woods and start stripping, fraying, etc. Many bucks killed
on roads during rut. October 31 st - end of close season for does.
November - Leaves fall, little cover in woods. Food is short - heavy browse damage
may occur in areas of high deer concentration.
December - Deer still in forest hollows for warmth.
Current management strategy
The following description of current management strategy for deer is based on
information from Corporation of London staff, and recent management reports, cited
in the references section. Ongoing work which affects the deer includes:
(i) felling secondary woodland to restore original grassland areas
(ii) creating "deer lawns" - areas where grass is regularly cut to encourage fresh
growth of a suitable height for deer graze
(iii) cutting grass and shrubs on road verges to maintain a high deer visibility.
(iv) favouring the black deer over the common when culling (although this is
rarely an issue, as many other considerations come before colour when
selecting an animal for the cull - injury, age, fitness, sex, etc.).
(v) testing "deer reflectors" along the B1393 at Thornwood in an attempt to
decrease road casualties.
In 1996, a report was commissioned for the Superintendent of the Corporation of
London, and was carried out by Dr. J Langbein. This report was concerned with the
conservation and management of the deer in the Forest and the bufferlands, and
addressed the following issues:
(i) enhancing the forest habitats to encourage deer to stay within the forest
(ii) decreasing the number of roadkills
(iii) investigating the possibility of using deer grazing to prevent scrub
encroachment on grassland areas
(iv) increasing the number of deer moving from the bufferlands in the north to the
main forest across the M25
(v) controlling deer numbers in the farmland of the bufferlands
(vi) improving public relations with respect to deer
(vii) maintaining a healthy herd of the black strain of fallow in the Theydon Bois
sanctuary.
Some of these measures have been implemented, but not all.