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Deer at Play

28/7/2019

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There is nothing quite like seeing a family of animals at play. This year I have wtinessed rabbits, geese and deer all enjoying (I'm sure they do feel this emotion) interacting with each other in a playful way. Two days ago I caught this family of deer enjoying their freedom, the space and the fence.

There is nothing quite like seeing a family of animals playing. This year I have wtinessed rabbits, geese and deer all enjoying (I'm sure they do feel this emotion) interacting with each other in a playful way. Two days ago I caught this family of deer enjoying their freedom, the space and the fence.

In one of those interesting coincidences, the day I made this movie of the deer playing in the garden, I watched a BBC2 programme called ‘Animals at Play’ which demonstrated that many different species engage in play defined as: voluntary and repetitive behaviour, when the reward is the activity itself rather than trying to achieve a goal like feeding or breeding. When undertaken when the animal is young it is often a prelude to serious (adult) behaviour - like fighting or fleeing. Play is undertaken when the animal is healthy, and when they feel safe and relaxed (unstressed).
 
The programme makers claimed that play prepares animals for the unexpected, it enables animals to develop the neural pathways that enable them to react quickly when it is necessary for their survival. Play is also an important social process enabling families to sustain their relationships and perhaps, like when we play, it releases hormones like dopamine that make them feel good.

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​Ragwort Galore

13/7/2019

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July 8 – arriving home from a two week holiday I noticed the Canada Geese were still here but as I approached them they all flew a few feet into the air. I remembered last year that the morning after I had seen them fly for the first time, they were gone. I wondered whether I should walk back to the house and get my camera but couldn’t be bothered and sure enough the following morning they were not to be seen. I was disappointed – they had been a part of our everyday life for the last 4 months. I was left wondering whether they waited for us to come home before flying away?
 
After 2 weeks the grass had grown but the main thing that struck me was the ragwort in the paddock. It had more or less taken over the eastern end which was a mass of yellow. The daisy-like, yellow flower heads of Common Ragwort belie the poisonous nature of this plant. Renowned as a weed of paddocks and pastures, where it can be harmful to livestock particularly horses. Ragwort is a biennial, flowering in its second year from June to November. I wondered whether its flourishing this year was because I had mown the paddock earlier this year and it had more space to grow. The upside is that the plant is one of the most frequently visited flowers by butterflies and other insects in the UK and more than 200 species of invertebrate have been recorded on it. Ragwort is the foodplant of the black-and-red Cinnabar moth: sometimes its black-and yellow-barred caterpillars cover the plant, totally stripping the leaves. 
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    Garden & Beyond Notes
    My garden keeps me busy and gives me the exercise I need to keep fit, although it does damage me from time to time. But more than anything else it gives me pleasure, happiness and a sense of belonging and of doing something useful and worthwhile. It enables me to express myself creatively and draws my attention to the beauty and ecology of life. In this blog  I am telling the story of my garden and my involvement and experiences in it through my writing and the photos, movies, music, paintings and other artefacts - it inspires me to create. I have become more conscious of the UNs Sustainable Development Goals and our important role in enabling their achievement my experiments and projects in the natural world show how I respect and try to understand nature and try to enable life to flourish. I know that one day I will not be the custodian of this beautiful landscape we call our home. I must make the most of it now and preserve its presence in my memory knowing that it will carry on long after I am gone and that someone else will care for it and call it their home.
    In March 2022 I joined a group of environmental activists in my village and so I have decided to expand my blog to take in the natural environment of which my garden is a part.

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    Useful Links
    RE Betchworth
    Wildlife Garden Forum
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