Maggoty with 'em

 It saddens me. I should enjoy seeing the occasional Fallow deer pronking across the skyline. In Sumner's day he was excited to see more than a handful of Fallow, it was a special day. These days the sight of a stream of Fallow moving across a hillside like the Caribou migration makes my heart sink. Anyone who knows this part of the 'Forest' can easily see the damage being done to the special habitats around us. It doesn't take any kind of a mastermind to figure that all those large herbivores, each with four pointy feet and a hunger for foliage are doing serious damage.

The Deer graze out the flowering plants, especially the late flowering ones like Harebells and Scabious. The extreme grazing also seems to have a serious effect on the Petty Whin which is hard to find now in my part of the 'Forest'. Regeneration of trees and shrubs is impacted and ground cover, although not a major feature in our New Forest woods is totally erased. In woods where Woodcock used to conceal themselves in dense under storey scrub they now have nowhere to hide.

A group of around 100 Fallow deer in Great Chibden Bottom

Great Chibden Botton used to be a well known site for ground nesting birds. Curlew, Peewits, Snipe, Larks and Pipits all nested there successfully. Over the last couple of decades these have diminished dramatically. Crows, Magpies, Dogs and Cyclists have all been blamed for this loss of species and they likely have played a part, however, I am sure the constant presence of the large numbers of deer have a significant impact. Disturbance, trampling and possible eating of eggs by deer must have also contributed to this area becoming inhospitable to ground nesters. Great Chibden Bottom should be a haven for all manner of exciting wildlife... it looks like a wonderful place but it has been spoiled.

Great Chibden Bottom looking wonderful but a victim of shifting baseline syndrome - all is not well

I propose that for the first seven months of every year the valley be out of bounds to all human related activity - no dog walking, no horse riding, no cyclists, no admittance. The track from Cuckoo Hill past Robin Hoods clump and beyond gives sufficient views of the valley, it can be admired without entry. Of course to make this worthwhile the National Trust needs to do it's job and cull the Fallow deer heavily and keep the numbers down. A degree of grazing is important and currently the numbers of Ponies and Cattle grazing in the valley seem about right. Thankfully the days when one commoner alone grazed more than 100 cattle here have gone ( I hope).