Red Deer dominate Scotland’s landscape. John D. Burns talks to Mike Daniels about hi new book, Locked Antlers, which highlights the damage deer have done and the battle raging to control their numbers and reclaim the natural diversity of our land.
The image of a red deer stag standing proud amongst the hills of Scotland is an iconic symbol of the majesty of these great beasts. The Monarch of the Glen conjures dreams of a wild Scotland, populated by country estates, great houses and tartan clad deer stalkers. This image has been celebrated in paintings and on biscuit tins, creating a mythical Scotland, and a rural paradise. But what is the truth behind the roaring stags that populate our imagination. Mike Daniels reveals the truth behind the myth and the struggle to regain control of our land.
Mike Daniels
With its natural predators long exterminated, huge deer populations controlled by landowners – largely for their own private interests – have had far-reaching environmental impacts. Despite efforts by conservationists to reduce populations and reverse the damage, historic deer management has left vast areas of rural Scotland under siege from high deer densities.
Photo: Mike Daniels
As the current nature crisis and climate breakdown pushes deer management up the political agenda, the book explores the long-standing conflict around deer in Scotland from the perspective of someone who has been at the heart of the debate for decades. It provides a first-hand insight into some of the most controversial episodes, examining the stories, the science, the culture, the history and the politics beneath the deer conflict. It points to the future – what could be the role of predators, fences and community hunting? What does the next generation of deer managers want, and what does Scotland need in the way it manages its deer?
Red deer have had a devastating effect on our landscape. The huge herds of deer that roam the Scottish hills have effectively prevented and regeneration of the natural forestry that should cover the landscape. Their grazing has prevented the young shoots of saplings from growing into mature trees and this has left our hills as vast open tracts of land were little other than Heather and grass survives.
The story of red deer in Scotland is, in reality, the story of power and wealth. It was Queen Victoria and her husband Albert, who made deerstalking a fashionable pursuit and popularised the creation of large shooting estates with their great houses, a pursuit that still shapes much of Scotland today.
In his book, Locked Antlers, Mike tells the story of the ongoing struggle to free the Highlands from the oppression of a sporting pursuit that became the dominant force in land management in the Scottish nation.
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