Nature watch: Oh deer

What a cold and frosty morning. It’s ages since I’ve seen any deer in the garden. This morning, once it was light enough to draw the curtains, I was sitting quietly at the table with a cup of coffee, reading in yesterday’s sports’ pages about Buttler’s fantastic knock of 116 not out off 52 balls. ‘Well done, young man’, as Boycott would say. Suddenly first one, then a second, then a third young deer bounded across the garden and scrambled through the hedge. They’re so quick! I thought the last one was getting stuck so opened the kitchen door to encourage him on his way. They usually leap right over the hedge but it won’t have its summer growth pruned until tomorrow, so perhaps even these astonishing little high jumpers knew they couldn’t make it. I’ll have a prowl round later and see what they’ve been eating, pesky things.

Ironically, I’ve made several Christmas cards showing deer as splendid beasts. Here’s one, as I couldn’t snap the real thing. Those I see don't have antlers.