The sika deer
I was walking slowly through a birchwood. The ground was rough and
steep. Far below me was Loch Ness. The bell heather and cross-leaved
heath were in bloom. I was happy.
I was by myself and very quiet. On the ground, where there was mud,
there were deer hoofprints. They were smaller than red deer hoofprints.
And there were droppings that were rather like sheep droppings.
I saw a hind. She was between brown and grey. There was a strip where
her spine was. She didn’t see me. I went towards her slowly. The wind
was favourable to me.
I was close to her when she started. She hadn’t seen me, but she
received a warning from another deer. The sound was strange, something
like a terrier’s bark. The warning sound was telling me that this was
the Japanese deer. In English, people call it sika deer. They make many
different sounds, such as a whistle, scream, clacking and groaning.
The sika deer is a bit smaller than the red deer. The books tell us
that it is not a social deer except in winter. But I myself saw two of
them next to one another. They were browsing and grazing together.
The sika deer is numerous in some places on the Highland mainland and
in the Borders. They are also in England and Ireland. They were
introduced deliberately by a landowner in the 19th century.
That’s a pity, because they interbreed with the red deer. In some
areas, that is changing the red deer – a native species. The sika deer
also damage trees. On the other hand, some estates kill them. They sell
their meat.
I don’t reckon we’ll ever get rid of the sika deer. In time, we’ll get used
to the unusual sounds they make.
Am Fiadh Iapanach
Bha mi a’ coiseachd gu mall tro choille bheithe. Bha an talamh garbh agus
cas. Fada fodham, bha Loch Nis. Bha fraoch a’ bhadain agus am fraoch
Frangach fo bhlàth. Bha mi air mo dhòigh.
Bha mi leam fhìn agus gu math sàmhach. Air an talamh, far an robh poll, bha
lorgan-coise aig fiadh. Bha iad na bu lugha na lorgan-coise an fhèidh
ruaidh. Agus bha buachar ann car coltach ri buachar caorach.
Chunnaic mi eilid. Bha i eadar donn is glas. Bha stiall far an robh a
cnàmh-droma. Chan fhac’ i mi. Chaidh mi ga h-ionnsaigh gu slaodach. Bha a’
ghaoth fàbharach dhomh.
Bha mi faisg oirre nuair a chlisg i. Cha robh i air m’ fhaicinn, ach fhuair
i rabhadh bho fhiadh eile. Bha am fuaim neònach, rudeigin mar chomhartaich
aig abhag. Bha am fuaim-rabhaidh ag innse dhomh gum b’ e seo am fiadh
Iapanach. Ann am Beurla canaidh daoine sika deer riutha. Bidh iad
a’ dèanamh tòrr dhiofar fhuaimean, eadar fead, sgreuch, glagadaich is
gnòst.
Tha am fiadh Iapanach beagan nas lugha na ʼm fiadh ruadh. Tha na
leabhraichean ag innse dhuinn nach e beathach sòisealta a tha ann ach
a-mhàin sa gheamhradh. Ach chunnaic mi fhìn na dhà dhiubh làimh ri chèile.
Bha iad a’ spioladh ʼs ag ionaltradh còmhla.
Tha am fiadh Iapanach pailt ann an cuid de dh’àiteachan air tìr-mòr na
Gàidhealtachd agus anns na Crìochan. Tha iad cuideachd ann an Sasainn agus
Èirinn. Bha iad air an toirt a-steach a dh’aona-ghnothach le uachdaran anns
an naoidheamh linn deug.
Is bochd sin, oir bidh iad a’ dèanamh tar-ghineachadh leis an fhiadh ruadh.
Ann an cuid de sgìrean, tha sin a’ toirt atharrachadh air an fhiadh ruadh –
gnè a tha dùthchasach. Bidh na fèidh Iapanach cuideachd a’ dèanamh sgrios
air craobhan. Air an làimh eile, bidh cuid de dh’oighreachdan gam marbhadh.
Bidh iad a’ reic an cuid feòla.
Cha chreid mi gum faigh sinn cuidhteas na fèidh Iapanach a-chaoidh. Tro
thìde, bidh sinn fàs cleachdte ris na fuaimean àraidh a tha iad a’ dèanamh.
