The rut

Throughout October I made frequent visits to my local deer park to capture the red deer rut.

The red deer is Britain's largest land mammal and the rut takes place during early autumn, usually peaking sometime in October. During this time the mature stags 'roar' to attract females which form groups (known as harems) around the dominant stags. The stags will compete fiercely for control of the harems while they wait for the hinds to come into season. Rival stags will perform parallel walking to size each other up and a fight will often break out if the stags are evenly matched. The stags will not eat for the entire rut which can last for many weeks.

Here are a selection of my favourite photos taken during this years rut:

 Red deer stag roaring © Shared Earth Photography

 Juvenile red deer stag © Shared Earth Photography

Red deer stag © Shared Earth Photography

Red deer stag © Shared Earth Photography