You know it is very strange but watching the rut this morning I just can empathise with the red deer stag. All he wants to do is have sex with as many women as possible. His whole life is tired up with that. he will drive away any challenger, unless he is too strong and even then he may fight. He has a simple need and he will do anything ac hieve it. He even puts on scent to try and impress the females; he shows off and tries to demonstrate just how sexy he is. Well this sounds like an average Friday or Saturday night in many town centre throughout the country. It is also something that deep down any man, who is interested in females, has done sometime in their life - I certainly know I have. And like many forays into the mating game it usually ends with frustration and disappointment as the bigger and better looking male comes along and takes your girl away. Many is the long lonely walk home we have all taken.
And as for the females - what do they do? Well they control the whole process. They select the males and then lead them a merry dance, always on the look out for the next best thing to come along. So while the stag is trying to ward off some interloper his prizes just move off leaving him look stupid. Well stupidity would seem to be part of the mating game.
This stage might look a might beast but in truth he was all noise and no trousers as he soon ran once the real alpha male showed up. He quickly made his escape with as much pride as he could muster. This make have something to do with the bad cut he has just below the eye caused by an antler - perhaps from the alpha male who chased him off.
So what does this say? Well first of all we mammals go in for some of the same mating rituals and that sex is a real power in our lives. Secondly, to really understand the rut you have to watch the females. They hold all the cards and are very selective who they are impressed by. Strange what you think about when watching the rut - you need to if you are going to get some interesting photographs - however having watched the antics of the other photographers around Bradgate Park I am not sure. Perhaps I am going about this the wrong way - perhaps I should stand on the road and not try to understand the animal I am trying to photograph. Maybe not!
No comments:
Post a Comment