In size Sika are similar to Fallow, and lie approximately midway between the large Red Deer and the small Roe Deer. Stags stand, to the tips of their antlers, approximately five feet, and the hinds three feet. Only the Stag carries antlers which are normally cast in April, and grow over the period May to August; during this time they are covered with skin which is shed in the latter month. The process of shedding is assisted by the beast rubbing it's horns against a hard surface or a tree, which suffers in the process. With age, the size and quality of the antlers improve, feeding is also important, as is also heredity, soil and weather. Kintyre animals are of very good quality. Antlers are thought to be of great social significance to a stag; as he grows a new set each year their social value must be re-learned and co-ordinated with a range of expressive gestures which play an important role in the process of natural selection.
A good age for a Sika is ten years. There is a seasonal change of coat from Summer, buff brown, to the Winter coat of longer sooty brown hair. In habit, the animal tends to be gregarious but less so than Red or Fallow. The Stags normally travel alone, or with one or two of the same sex, except towards the end of the Winter. Just before the antlers are cast, the males form small groups. In Autumn, Winter and Spring, hinds and calves also associate in small groups. The rutting or breeding season, is from mid-September until the end of November when the stags mark out their territory, and fight for the females. Calves are born from the beginning of June, to the end of July.
The full story and status of Sika Deer in Kintyre is not well known. Information is required on seasonal movement; territorial demands; what antipathy, if any, occurs between each species, e.g. there are indications in Kintyre that Sika are driving the smaller native Roe out of their habitat - there is evidence of Red Deer crossing with Sika, the resultant hybrid could have an economic significance; and antler developement.
REFERENCES: "British Deer and their Management", Whitehead (Country Life). "A Herd of Red Deer", Fraser Darling, Oxford. "A Field Guide to British Deer", Journal of the British Deer Society. Enquiries can be made to The Secretary, Knapdale and Kintyre Deer Society, Lochside, Campbeltown.
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