muntjac deer | Diary of a man and his woodland

The early morning drive down to the woods yesterday was bathed with the beautiful golds and yellows of autumn trees. This year is one of the best I have ever seen for colours. In another week or two it will all be gone, so I was glad to have been able to see mine at it’s best yet. The best colours are to be seen on the beech, oak and hazel. I stepped out of the car and all was silent apart from three nearby wrens tick-tick-ticking away at each other.

I could hardly wait to check my trail cam in it’s newest location. There were 33 captures and the first half looked disappointing – grey squirrels or blanks. Then a surprise – muntjac deer. These small deer are not native to the UK, originating in Asia and introduced here around 1900. Apparently they are thriving and on our hit list of undesirables and can be very damaging. They are cute though and for me, quite a thrill to see them in my woods. The second to last clip on the video shows a pair so there may be some more before long!

I wanted to finish the guttering on the shelter. I had left it with a temporary, leaky fix on the down pipe. I took a peak in the water butt, expecting a small amount of water and was amazed that it was half full already. It wasn’t long before more rain came and confined me to the inside of the shelter. I hadn’t expected any rain but was happy to spend time making a few homely additions (some hooks and a hanging rail) and making some bodgers’ mallets from some oak logs. They are handy for helping split small firewood, chiselling or knocking wedges in when felling. The shelter is looking more workmanlike now with a good supply of dry logs for some warming, wintry fires.

I had decided to build my culinary skills using the rocket stove and cook an omelette. Quite adventurous for me, I am not renown for my cooking and omelette is something I repeatedly fail at, even at home. It always sticks but my dear wife has shown me the correct way, so I was keen have a go. It was to be mushroom and black olive omelette (I like odd combinations) and I set about skillfully preparing my vegetables, lighting the fire and mixing the egg. I nearly ruined it at this stage. I had some small sachets of salt and pepper. I opened the salt and poured half in, then opened the second sachet and started to dump the whole contents in, only to realise that the pepper looked suspiciously like another salt packet. Whoa, I just managed to stop half way. So I fried off the mushrooms and olives then poured the egg in. I have repeatedly said how wonderful the cast iron skillets are at not sticking. They are as smooth and slippery as Donald Trump. Well not this time! I have just created a new egg dish – “scramlette”. A cross between scrambled egg and omelette. I have also decided it will be the last time I will try this particular delight. Judge for yourself and if you like the look I can give you the recipe and method.