Unbalanced

I headed out towards the rutting field this morning.  There was no activity and I'm really not sure there will be as the females seem well spread out around the area and this lone stag was maintaining vigil over a small group of hinds in the field.  The subject detection on the camera didn't seem to have any issues with zoning in on the head and even eyes of the deer, even at distance.

This stag certainly has a very unbalanced antlers and on viewing a close-up it's difficult to work out what has happened as there is a growth around the forehead.  Something else I've noticed from watching these animals over a number of year; it is always the hinds that act as lookouts and inevitably pick me out when I approach.  They will usually instigate the move away from the area, when they feel threatened.

We had a walk later in the day and had an uncomfortable moment when we came across a dog walker with a bully XL.  The dog saw us and rushed up, which for a moment was very disconcerting, though he appeared to be friendly.  The dog walker wouldn't engage with us and seemed unable to call the dog away.  In the end she put it on a lead and walked off.  I can probably understand the owner's reaction in the current publicity climate.  This was less than a couple of miles from the village of Stonnall, where a man lost his life in an attack by this type of dog, last week.

I'm unsure if the approach advocated by the Government, to add the breed to the dangerous dogs list, is the right way to deal with the recent spate of attacks, though something has to be done.  I'm very much of the view that it isn't the breed itself, but the way they are bred, trained and brought up that influences how dangerous they are.  As status dogs they certainly are very intimidating, with their muscle and bulk.