The Deer

摘要

English woods have too many deer. Crouch down in many a wood, and you can suddenly see a long way: deer have eaten the bottom out of the wood. The foliage stops at a browse-line at a height depending on the sort of deer: three feet or so for the little muntjac, higher for roe, a little over four feet for fallow, higher still for red deer, and in Sweden six feet or more for elk. Deer have definite preferences, thus fallow deer prefer ash to hazel, but with roe it is reversed. All deer love ivy, whichis the first plant to look at for signs of browsing. They mostly enjoy holly and bramble despite the prickles.