A Young Life - update

I've been asked for more details of the injured deer found on Sunday, so here they are with an update:

It was first seen on Sunday morning lying in the shrubbery just over the wall from the top track.
It appeared unwilling to move. Seeing that it was still in the same spot an hour later we approached and I could see its front legs were at an awkward angle. At least one seemed broken. Leaving it there did not seem an option with weekend dog -walking likely to cause it distress. The RSPCA seemed the likeliest point of contact but Sunday is not easy for contacting any organisation.

By the time the RSPCA did attend it had been lying there for more than 24 hours. I had returned to check several times during Sunday and early Monday. The RSPCA officer who did come kept in contact with me by phone, necessary because finding the animal was tricky - it had managed to somehow drag itself further away from the track and into the woods. But it was plainly in distress and frightened. We agreed that its injuries were untreatable and that it would need to be put down.

Wildlife is always vulnerable and the difference with large animals like deer and also foxes and badgers is that we are more likely to see them. It's also more distressing somehow when you know or believe that man has had a hand in their injury - a roadkill or something more intentional like the stag's head found in the car park 3 years ago. In this case we agreed that the likeliest cause of the injuries was the animal's attempt to jump the wall at a place where various tree cutting debris had been piled leading to a disastrous landing.

One cause of concern is that the wildlife of the area is under the protection of various organisations including the wildlife trust, the Peak National Park, and other conservation organisations. Yet attempts to contact these people on a Sunday when many people would be expected to be out enjoying the outdoors and might see problems led to no action being taken - at least those we did finally make contact with did not get back to us and the animal was still there on Monday morning. SWT operate an office hours phone line. They say they are there to build a better future for wildlife but the only emergency number I've seen on Blacka has been for the farmer who grazes livestock. PDNPA's Ranger service was contacted on Sunday and I reported the situation mentioning dog walking but nobody got back to me. The RSPCA was good when we finally got through but the only number for them was a national number and the wait was more than 30 minutes.

Scenes from the life of one wild animal:

One Year.