Beauty on the Fringe

A juvenile looks at the lens momentarily while surrounded by gentle morning mist.

The time for the main event has clearly arrived.

Even before you hear the thunderous bellowing of the stags afield, you can tell so by the number of cars parked inside the park gate clearly belonging to avid hobbyist photographers who are already inside the park pointing their long lenses at the stags. It is still just before dawn so it says a lot about the pulling power of the rut.

Feeling already somewhat defeated as I wasn’t the first to have arrived, I start making my way roughly towards the centre of the park hoping to spot the deer in the woods along the way. I scan prioritising the slopes of the park that will be lit by the sun first - although there is no guarantee that the deer would be exactly where you would want them to be, it would make everything - especially getting up at 5:30 am worthwhile if you could spot them in desirable light!

Unfortunately though, the deer seem to have moved on since the previous day.

As I continued, a loud bellowing echoed through a fern-covered dip in the park followed by a short series of grunts in staccato. There I spot it. A huge stag running around like crazy alternating between herding its hinds and barking at enemies in a distance. The coat is coarse and wet from the rain, both brown and dark grey, and its antlers glistening in dark tannin, flared out and thicker at both ends, larger and heavier than any other I had seen before. This is the epitome of what people imagine a stag to be in the rut. Despite its perfect image though, I left the stag alone as it was in the wrong spot, and it was already surrounded by other photographers which meant I might disturb their line of sight if I moved to where I wanted to go. But anyway here’s a shot of the magnificent stag.

A rather disturbing stare.

I carried on. As the air gets warmed by the rising sun, the stags that were silent and invisible start bellowing one by one revealing their presence. I spotted a stag 20 metres away from me, beautifully side-lit by the sun.

A rare example of a male multitasking - bellowing and urinating to spread its scent.

Right next to where this stag was bellowing was a an acid grass field which was covered in a gentle mist all over. That would be a perfect sight! I willed the stag to walk over there but that wish was never granted. Such is life. They are preoccupied with other things such as how to herd its hinds, and spot and shout at its enemies. It almost walked out onto the field then gave me this.

Urinating with an erection while winking at me……charming.

While this stag was giving me an eyeful, I noticed a mother deer and its young sneak out away from the herd. Although I’ve never been a hind, I almost felt like I was a deer whisperer. Even for the protection of being part of a herd, I don’t think I would enjoy being around a testosterone-fuelled stag with a fear of being mounted on at any moment of his choosing, particularly with those huge antlers. Stags are that huge and unpredictable. One moment they seem chilled and the next they start charging a phantom enemy all of a sudden. So when I spotted this mother-and-child pair escape from the herd to enjoy some peace and calm, I felt I could understand them totally.

Away from the madness, a moment of calm for mother and her young.

Also one different morning when temperature suddenly dropped, I was rewarded with rather stunning scenes where two young bucks showed fraternity and rivalry in equal measures which was something I hadn’t seen with a conscious mind before. They apparently wanted to establish who is stronger, but at the same time they liked hanging around together.

One of them was responding to a stag’s bellowing from afar.

I used to mistakenly believe that stags would have no qualms using the antlers to pierce the opponent. That might be the case if they get mad at a barking dog, or get in a serious fight with another male, but when there is no sex at stake, they showed courtesy and mannerisms akin to Japanese martial arts. First they face each other as if to greet before they lower their heads simultaneously to lock the antlers gently. Then the rest is like arm wrestling. That I guess is how they suss out the opponent’s strength.

Then they would go back to locking their antlers to see who is stronger.

But there are always some who prove you wrong. These two youngsters were having a play fight but one got carried away and started to bitch slap the other. Yes, the deer can be aggressive and bad-tempered. No rules, no restraint.

‘Take this!’

Wildlife or nature photography can be tricky. The so-called main characters, more often than not, are uncooperative being in awkward spots, or generally being unphotogenic. Stags, for example, spend substantial amount of time sitting down because of the heavy antlers. Nonetheless they pull in the crowds because they are so symbolic. But strangely, as I went through all the photos tonight as part of creating this post, my vague suspicion was confirmed which was something I felt when photographing the scenes on location; those photos without the mature stags pull me in more strongly. These, I may argue, contain more raw emotions, dramas, and storylines than the stag shots however magnificent these creatures may be. This of course might be an unfair comparison as I haven’t managed a shot where there are two mature stags in the same frame. That might add a sense of drama and tension for sure. Who knows? But until that day, I will be happy following those on the fringe as long as they are in the right spot with the right expression to help me capture what goes on in their minds at this time of year.

How do you feel about the photos on this post or how are you getting on with your photographic efforts during the rut season this year? Feel free to comment in the section below.

Thanks for reading!