The Keeper

The Keeper

Roe deer

Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons

 This is an English folk song. It sounds very jolly, but is an account of a hunt to kill a deer.

I am unable to embed it, but it can be found here.

Jack is a diminutive of John, and Jackie is an adaptation of Jack.

It is a call and response song. The responses are shown in parentheses.

  The keeper did a hunting go
And under his cloak he carried a bow
All for to shoot a merry little doe
Among the leaves so green, O.

(Chorus)

Jackie boy! (Master!) Sing ye well! (Very well!)
Hey down (Ho down) Derry derry down
Among the leaves so green, O
To my hey down down (To my ho down down)
Hey down (Ho down) Derry derry down
Among the leaves so green, O

The first doe he shot at he missed;
The second doe he trimmed he kissed;
The third doe went where nobody wist
Among the leaves so green, O.

The fourth doe she did cross the plain,
The keeper fetched her back again.
Where she is now, she may remain,
Among the leaves so green, O.

The fifth doe she did cross the brook;
The keeper fetched her back with his crook;
Where she is now you may go and look
Among the leaves so green, O.

The sixth doe she ran over the plain;
But he with his hounds did turn her again,
And it's there he did hunt in a merry, merry vein
Among the leaves so green, 0.

Roe deer

The doe is watching the dogs pass by

The deer in our local forest are roe deer, the most numerous of Britain’s native deer, and at this time of the year their coats have changed from the dark grey or brown of winter to a rich russet. It is quite usual for us to see one or two roe deer when we take the dogs walking, particularly towards evening. The deer are watchful but not easily startled, only taking flight if one of the dogs gets within twenty yards. Then they bound away and melt into the trees. 

Here she's watching Barry, trying to understand what he's doing

 We have often seen deer lying down in patches of sunlight. This gives them an opportunity to chew the cud. Usually they lie where they have been feeding only if they feel secure. One of the places we have seen them is about a hundred yards from the path we follow.

It's difficult to get buck and doe together in one frame!

In the last three weeks, since late August, we have regularly seen a young buck and doe. They are keeping company because this is the breeding season. The rut takes place from July to September. Does usually bear twins which are born the following spring, between April and June. In exceptionally good conditions a doe may have triplets. 

He looks as though he's saying, 'What are you looking at?'

Roe deer are the only deer that delay implantation so that the young are born when conditions are favourable, in that the weather is more clement and there is sufficient food and fresh plant growth. Others among the one hundred or so mammals that delay implantation (embryonic diapause) include stoats, badgers and rodents.

Spotting them is sometimes difficult . . . 

Can you see him now?

Here he is lying down 

Moving away unhurriedly

 I found a useful site that shows how to calculate the age of a buck by its antlers and I think ‘our’ buck is a two-year-old.

The antlers are shed each year and unusually for British deer, the roe buck casts and regrows them in the winter when good food is not readily available.

I am linking to Camera Critters.

Camera Critters #68

When we take the dogs walking I usually take my camera (Canon Ixus 980) It's small enough to go in a pocket or to carry in my free hand ready for action. In the other hand I carry the ball-flinger to keep Jenna-the-Labrador entertained. As Gillian and Paul's dogs are staying with us at the moment it keeps them busy too.
Last Thursday we were strolling along, Barry hauling Dominie, Buddy and Frodo catching up on pee-mails, the Labradors hurling themselves into every puddle and pond they came to and me scanning for activitiy. Then I saw a roe deer; she was in an area where we often see deer. I tried to photograph her but she was some distance away and wary. We would eventually pass the other side of this small area and I was hopeful of seeing her again.
At one of the new ponds, excavated earlier this year when tree harvesting was being carried out, Frodo and the Labradors swam and drank and paddled and played. When Dominie was independent she loved to swim and so Barry lets her roll gently into the pond where she can enjoy the sensation of water on her body, drink some of it and revisit earlier times for a little while. When she's had enough she lies in the sun to rest and lick herself while Buddy and Frodo pace about, sniffing here and there and the Labradors chase the ball.

Barry guides Dominie into the water as Buddy watches. Jenna has collected the ball on this occasion.


Now Tia has the ball. As usual Jenna is wearing her transmitter collar so that we know which direction to worry in when she disappears!
Foxy, Gillian and Paul's fox-red Labrador, learnt long ago that treats were far more satisfying to retrieve than a slobbery ball so stopped trying to keep up with Tia and Jenna. I don't often take titbits out with me now but she still looks hopefully at me, my hands, my pockets. She is slowly realising that she is a retriever and she can sometimes get to the ball before the others, so long as she has a headstart - that is, if I fool the others into going in the wrong direction first. They can never quite believe she has found it and will go on looking until they realise she has it, then Jenna takes it from her! Foxy never objects - she really is a very sweet-tempered dog.

Foxy has the ball. Jenna and Tia haven't realised where I've thrown it and are quartering the ground beyond the pond.
Dominie's pleasures in life include meeting new people and dogs. Most people stop to enquire about the reason for her wheels.Some dogs are spooked by the unfamiliar silhouette she presents but usually the dog greetings follow the routine and etiquette they always have. She particularly likes little dogs and on Thursday she met two out with their humans. One of them was a rescue dog - we meet quite a few of these in our perambulations, from small cross-breeds to retired racing Greyhounds to working breeds that have proved too much for their original owners or breeders. The sky was ever-changing and threatening rain - indeed wehad a torrential downpour later in the evening - so we proceeded on our way. Sure enough, when we reached the opposite side of the stretch where I had spotted the doe, there she was again. Now she was accompanied by a young buck who appeared to have only one antler. Barry took over ball-flinging duties - we knew if Jenna caught sight, sound or scent of the deer she would have been off!

The deer are beyond the pond between the two groups of small trees. Frodo is paddling and slaking his thirst.

Frodo, my velcro dog, accompanied me as I slowly approached the pair, happily paddling and keeping an eye on me. The doe and buck were aware of me but seemed unfazed, looking at me now and again and then resuming their grazing.

He looks at me while she looks in the other direction.Deer slot
Eventually, after I had been watching and photographing and moving closer for about seven minutes, the doe went into cover where she continued to watch me for a while before vanishing.
The buck looked long and hard at me. I wonder what happened to his right antler? Finally he decided that discretion was the better part of valour and left the scene . . . but unhurriedly, at his leisure.

I don't think I'll ever get over my excitement at seeing deer - they are truly beautiful elegant creatures and their ability to melt into the shrubs and trees is amazing.

Next time we'll take Barry's Canon 40D with a telephoto lens and hopefully the photographs will be much better quality. Of course, the mere act of taking it with us will probably guarantee we shan't see any wild animals!

Thank you to Misty Dawn for creating this meme and to Misty and Tammy for hosting it.

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