One Deer at a Time #3
- Charlie Kang
- Oct 28, 2016
- 5 min read
A place where we can coexist, wild deer roam free. Welcome to Richmond Park.
It’s amazing to think that London is one of the largest cities in the world, yet there is an abundance of wildlife right on our footsteps. Squirrels scurry along searching for that delicious nut, while Mr. Fox can be found wandering the streets at any given night. Amongst the Boroughs, the city holds one of its natural treasures, it protects something deer to our hearts (see what I did there?).
I don’t know how the conversation came about exactly. We were enjoying the rays of summer shining on our BBQ, eating chicken and drinking beer in London Fields. “People know how to take advantage of summer here” a friend said to me. We were talking about how the parks offered a getaway from the hustle and bustle. As conversation flowed I was introduced to Richmond Park, a park in London with wild deer. Wild Deer did you say? In London?
Richmond Park is the largest of the Royal Parks of London that was created specifically for deer to roam free and away from overpriced rent. A somewhat comedic video on Youtube has been circling the web for several years now, an owner shouting at his dog Fenton who chased the parks deer’s. I felt grateful that another sunny day shined upon me and decided to make the journey from East London with my bike on the overground.
Entering through Richmond Gate, I decided early on not to ride. I had a sense that walking was better to immerse myself into the land. Perhaps it was my inner animal tracking skills that gifted this thought, perhaps it was my inner Ace Ventura Pet Detective that came out of me. I avoided the roads, I knew the cars and bikes would be a deterrent for my four legged locals.
Oh wrong I was. Only after ten metres walking into the unpaved path, lying under the trees were two deer taking shade. I almost missed them too, there dappled, beige and brown skin perfectly camouflaging with the long autumn grass while their large, bent antlers mixed in with broken logs. One must have seen me walk past and popped his head up. My heart jumped a beat, appeared before my eyes a wild deer studying me as I did the same back. Its tail wagging like an excited dog, I somehow found it reassuring. I continued my path, into the park, the deer going back to its nap no sooner I left.
Have you ever seen that movie Elysium starring Matt Damon? A futuristic movie where the rich lived in a luxurious space station while the rest live back on Earth? I couldn’t help but find a resemblance to this film with Richmond Park. It was like being on a new cleaner planet, populated only by a handful of people. Cars and bikes were a distance, the City of London as far as the moon.
Or maybe it was more like the yellow brick road on the Wizard of Oz? Open plains of grass spread far and wide, a long straight pathway stretched down all the way to the other hill. It separated Pale Ponds down the middle, manicured bushes and forests filling the open landscape in patches. I hoped the Wizard could grant me my wish of seeing more deer. As I ventured further into uncharted territory, listening to ‘For Peter – Toilet Brushes – More’ by Nils Frahm, the tingling, neo-electric piano vibes perfectly captured the atmosphere.
I ventured off into the areas of less travelled, ‘If I was a deer, where would I be?’ I thought this seriously. Stepping onto thorn bushes and prickly leaves, I was rewarded when deer heads popped up mid snack, wondering which fool had interrupted their lunch break. My heart began racing once again, I was now a deer paparazzi. I had made a disastrous attempt of being discrete, crunching branches, snapping leaves with every step. The mood shifted from excitement to danger as the deer trio now stared me down protecting their fawn. There was no one else around, I had come too close, they began walking towards me. Was I being staunched by this deer gang? It had seemed I had crossed their turf. I left the bush and retired back to the main pathway to find neutral territory.
Passing between the ponds, people enjoyed their picnics along the water. Swans dunked their heads underwater as ducks flew together before landing a perfect dismount. Beyond the pond, herds of deer grazed casually, my initial worry of whether id struggle to find any deer was a distant past now. I had deer coming out of the woodworks, literally.
They spread everywhere. Some leaped up to snack on the trees while others stuffed their faces in the bush, antlers amusingly tangling in the vines. The male deer with his chest out and standing tall would groan his mating call, exerting his dominance to nearby males while courting the ladies he found desirable. I’d come at the right time, September and October being the mating season, love was in the air. He groaned for hours, one mating call after another. But it was to no avail. He tirelessly chased after dozens, only to come up empty handed, time and time again. In finding a partner, the deer didn’t behave so much more differently from humans really.
If the buck wasn’t already down on his luck, another male deer appeared, challenging his authority. They starred each other down amongst a circle of onlookers, a street fight was going down. They bucked horns, showing their strength. People watched in awe and silence, only a five-year-old boy could be heard mimicking the mating call, he didn’t seem all that impressed. As the challenger lost the battle, he banished into the bushes he came from. Our buck gained some much needed confidence from the win, he would need to muster all his courage to find a companion.
I tracked the other one down. Failed from his attempt to dethrone the champion, he wondered to the ponds to cool off. While quenching his thirst, he begins to dig a little mud pit for himself, kicking vigorously with his hooves. The crowd grew with every kick, Iphones at the helm. You can hear the champion in the outskirts, still groaning and trying his luck on a female of course. The challenger lays in his new dugout. His antlers twist and turn to rip the grass making a comfy pillow. He needed a lie down after his loss.
The day began with a lot of uncertainty and wonder. By the afternoon I experienced everything I had imagined and more. As I lie up on the hill writing this article, I am surrounded by many doe’s grazing and the male deer’s groan never too far away. I remind myself that I am not in the country side or an African safari, but in fact London. A place where wild deer and people can coexist, only a train ride away.
Until next time. CK.