Three red deer skulls and three new bodies

Here are two red deer that I saw early yesterday morning when I was on a walk with dad in Suicides Graves wood. I haven't seen many red deer recently because when it was snowy over the winter the red deer woods were difficult to get to. But I have found three interesting red deer skulls recently, as well as finding three dead red deer.



• The young red stag



I found this skull while exploring a new part of Suicides Graves wood. It is interesting because the pedicles at the top are small and still growing. The pedicles are where the antlers grow from. I think it as under a year old because the second molar is still coming through and the bottom of the braincase isn't properly fused yet.

I brought this one back because I don't have a young male red deer skull like this.

• The adult red deer hind



I found this skull in the same wood. I found the whole skeleton lying in a clearing, but only brought the skull back. I brought it back because it was a really nice adult skull with almost all the lower incisors.



Deer have eight lower incisors at the bottom, but none at the top. Incisors are difficult to find with a skull because they are loose and easily fall out. We looked hard but could find the last one.

I don't know how old this deer was yet, but I think she was at least three or four years old. Now I have a young female red deer skull (Alice and Dixie), an adult female one, and an old female one (Lisa).

• The seven-point red deer skull



I only found this skull on Friday when Mum and I went for a walk in Dougal's Cairn wood. The antlers are very thick and strong so I think it was an older stag. It was buried in the ground, so is really dirty, so we'll have to clean it up the same way as we did my six point stag skull.

• The three dead red deer



In the last week, we have found three dead red deer. The one at top left is a male stag in Suicides Graves wood. He must have died in April because his antlers hadn't fallen off yet. The one at top right I found yesterday in the same wood, and is a female. The one at the bottom Dad found this morning at the bottom of Titus Well Woods. All the bodies are within a mile of each other, and will take another two months to rot down. I might not take them all, but the stag looks cool. I don't have a full male red deer skeleton yet, only skulls.

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