Deer Deer

The teddy bears had managed to dodge the rainy days and had visited one of the lovely National Trust properties in their area. They hadn't dared travel too far in case it rained again!

"Where we going?" asked Tommy as they started on their journey. "What will we see?"

"We're going to a place called Dunham Massey," replied Teddy, who had organised the outing. "It's a historic house with old buildings, a beautiful garden and a huge deer park. We don't want to waste this sunny day indoors so we'll have a walk around the gardens and then see if we can spot any deer in the park."

"That sounds like fun," said Tommy. "What are deer?"

Teddy smiled at Tommy. "They are large mammals and there are over 60 different kinds. But you already know at least one of those kinds - Santa's reindeer! They're deer too. Here today we'll see fallow deer," he explained.

"Tell me more please, Teddy" Tommy pleaded. "I like that we're going to see some of Rudolph's cousins!"

Luckily, Teddy has infinite patience, and as he started to give Tommy more information, the other bears gathered round him too.

"Male deer are called bucks and females are called does - do you remember the song in Mary Poppins that begins 'doe's a deer, a female deer'?" he began.

The other bears remembered this now. Mary Poppins was one of their favourite musicals but they hadn't really associated that bit of the song with actual deer. Now it all made sense!

"Does anyone know what baby deer are called?" Teddy asked them all.

"They're called fawns!" announced Lizzie. "Like the little baby deer in the Bambi film!"

"Well done, Lizzie!" said Teddy. "Let me tell you just a few more interesting facts about deer before we meet any," he continued. "Male deer grow antlers on top of their heads every year. The antlers fall off in Winter and then they grow another set.

Picture the antlers on Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," he hurriedly added before anyone asked him to describe them. How do you describe the small tree-branch-like structures growing out of an animal's head!

"Deer have a fantastic sense of smell," Teddy went on. "A deer's eyes are on the sides of their head so they have wide angle vision. And they have good night vision. They have amazing hearing and can move their ears in the direction of noise without even moving their heads. And they can pick up higher sound frequencies than humans. They are very sociable, like teddy bears, and usually live in herds."

The bears were becoming more and more eager to meet these wonderful-sounding animals, and they had now arrived at Dunham Massey. They went through the gates and out into the park.

They started their visit in the lovely gardens which were in full bloom at this time of the year. There were distinct areas to look around - the teddy bears' favourite was the Rose Garden, absolutely full with beautiful colours and gorgeous scents - they could have stayed there all day! But they also visited the Orangery, walked by the water, and inspected the very formal layouts of the areas in front of the house. There were lots and lots of huge trees, and flowery shrubs, and pretty blossoms. They had brought their picnic lunch with them, which they ate on a blanket spread out on a large green lawn. Lovely!

"Can we go and see the deer now please, Teddy?" asked Tommy after they had finished eating and had been sitting around for a while (all that walking required some rest afterwards!)

"OK," said Teddy, "Let's pack up our things and make our way into the park. Remember we're not to feed or touch the deer, but make sure you have your cameras ready. Although deer are usually quite shy, I expect that the ones who live here are sort of used to people being around."

"Don't make lots of noise and disturb them," reminded Teddy, as they quietly walked around. Then Boo grabbed Crackers arm with his paw. "Look!" he whispered loudly, "there are some deer!" and sure enough there were several lovely animals sitting down or standing eating the grass, not even bothering to look up as the bears walked gently by. But their ears certainly seemed to follow the bears' path around them - just like Teddy had said!

A visit to Dunham Massey makes a lovely day out. Of course, it's best if you visit when the weather is nice enough to walk round the gardens and the park, but you can also go inside the house and see how the family used to live there.

And there is a café and a restaurant, and shops and somewhere to buy ice cream, which the teddy bears certainly enjoyed at the end of their day.