I don’t often mention the small herd of fallow deer we have at Croick, introduced by our predecessors. In truth, they are a little soft-skinned for this far north and are bullied by the sika deer. So they don’t do particularly well. We don’t shoot them but the climate ensures that their numbers do not increase.

It is actually quite unusual to see a mature fallow buck with palmated antlers on the ground but there was one out today with some hinds.