Thread: Winter Wallowing

Hi all

I went into the Pureoras last Friday to retrieve my game cameras I had in there over the roar. I figured there won't be much action around the wallows now so might as well bring them home.

How wrong I was. Really surprised me to see animals (mainly hinds, but the odd stag too) using the wallows from the end of May right through until July. The temperature readings on the camera suggests they are wallowing at temperatures down to zero degrees. I have had people tell me that red deer are much less fussed with the cold than sika, but this totally blew me away. They are tough! I'm thinking they must be wallowing to control lice, cause this ain't some summer cool off in the swimming hole! The footage shows that they often will wallow, then stand up and bend their neck around to scratch their flank with their nose, similar to how cattle do when they're itchy.

Below are some stills from my cameras showing animals wallowing in May, June and July (the year is wrong - it says 2023 but should be 2024). Check out the temperatures! Great to see most animals are in fantastic condition, it must have been a good autumn and early winter with plenty of feed in the bush.

Happy hunting!