Barry gets the groove
Post categories: Anglesey, autumnwatch, deer, fallow deer, ravens
| 09:26 UK time, Monday, 3 November 2008
Phew! We're already halfway through this year's series of Autumnwatch and we've been busy criss-crossing the country solving some of nature's mysteries. From Dorset to Petworth then to Birmingham and now we've just landed on Anglesey where we'll be taking a look at Britain's largest raven roost.
To see the fallow deer at Petworth in the rutting season was magical. It was fascinating hearing the noises made by the bucks - their deep Barry White grunting sounds being a constant soundtrack to our visit!
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The science behind it all is equally interesting and I caught up with expert Alan Mcelligott who told me about his studies into the fallow deer rut.
Click here to listen to what he had to say.
I also stepped up to the rather strange challenge of making plywood cut-outs of muntjac and roe deer so that presenter Simon King could illustrate the difference in their sizes. It was like something out of the Apprentice - I knew that I had to make them look good and to the right scale. I was absolutely terrified I'd end up making something that looked like a loch ness monster rather than a deer. But following a quick dash to some hardware stores, I eventually managed to produce something that resembled a good job. In fact the muntjac cut-out is now called Munty and has become a bit of a mascot in our edit van!
Indeed, Munty's also managed to cause quite a stir. An hour or so before Wednesday's live show there was a cry of "record, record" as someone glanced a muntjac on one of the monitors. A closer look revealed that it was a muntjac - but unfortunately one made of plywood!
Muntjacs seem to have really caught the public's imagination and we'd love to hear from you if you've been lucky enough to catch a glimpse of one where you live. Just drop me a line via the comment form below.
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