this post was submitted on 26 Dec 2025
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UK Nature and Environment

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Ben Martill often gazes out of his window to watch the deer roaming below. "In the past few years there have been loads of them," he says. Yet Ben doesn't live in rural woodland but in a block of flats on a fairly busy road in the market town of Horsham in West Sussex. He often sees deer on the main thoroughfares.

"There are herds running up Crawley Road," he says. "Loads congregate at night on the traffic island of the bypass."

Ben, 33, is a gardener, and some of his customers have had deer break down their fences and strip the bark from the trees. He's had a near miss in his car, too.

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[–] robocall@lemmy.world 18 points 3 months ago (1 children)

If they don't want to bring wolves and bears back, they better start eating them

[–] Deebster@programming.dev 9 points 3 months ago (2 children)

I don't understand why venison isn't on the menu more often in the UK. When I do see it, it's often on the special board, or in less mainstream restaurants. It's tasty, healthy and sustainable so what's that problem?

[–] Peppycito@sh.itjust.works 11 points 3 months ago (1 children)

In Canada you aren't allowed to sell wild meat. It has to be farmed. This is to stop poachers and uninspected meat being sold. Wild deer can have gross shit in them. Around me "mad deer disease" is a thing.

[–] teft@piefed.social 6 points 3 months ago (2 children)

Yeah, in maine we have chronic wasting disease in the deer population. Gotta inspect every deer you shoot because nobody wants a prion disease (not sure it can leap species but i don’t think anyone wants to chance it).

[–] Peppycito@sh.itjust.works 3 points 3 months ago

chronic wasting disease

That's the one.

[–] SupraMario@lemmy.world 1 points 3 months ago

It can and has. It's why I stopped eating deer. Shits really bad in the south

[–] robocall@lemmy.world 2 points 3 months ago

I think people are supposed to freeze wild deer meat for like 6-12 months to kill the parasites in them

[–] oeuf@slrpnk.net 16 points 3 months ago

David Attenborough:

"A non-native species, the deer first migrated here to the Traffic Islands in the twenty first century, much to the consternation of the local apes."

[–] Novamdomum@fedia.io 10 points 3 months ago

FENTON! OH, JESUS CHRIST! FENTON!

[–] RobotToaster@mander.xyz 5 points 3 months ago (1 children)

The deer were there before the block of flats

[–] Worx@lemmynsfw.com 8 points 3 months ago (1 children)

The wolves that kept the deer population under control were there before the flats

[–] RobotToaster@mander.xyz 1 points 3 months ago

I absolutely support introducing wolves to traffic islands.

[–] Nighed@feddit.uk 4 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

Interesting that the culling reduced after 2020. During lockdown, I grew a great crop of runner beans, but every year since, deer have eaten the plants!

[–] moonshadow@slrpnk.net 2 points 3 months ago (2 children)

Does Britain not have hungry people? There's a very simple solution here

[–] Tweak@feddit.uk 1 points 3 months ago

Mmmm, prions.

[–] Drusas@fedia.io 1 points 3 months ago

If you have guns, there is.