A Walk in Richmond Park: The Biggest Park in London

29Dec

A walk in Richmond Park goes hand in hand with deer spotting. The deer are the main attraction, always have been. 🦌 🦌

Disappointingly, I didn’t see any deer this time. Not sure where they were – huddling up somewhere warm maybe – can’t say I blame them, plus the fact that deer are less active in the winter months when food is in shorter supply – they conserve their energy.

On a cold December day, it was pretty quiet in terms of the wildlife, apart from non stop chirps from various birds, ducks on the water, and the ‘one’ squirrel I managed to catch sight of in the distance – it’s just as well I forgot to bring some nuts.

For the time of year I was quite surprised at how many berries were flourishing – all kinds, some looked like blackberries…plenty of food for small animals.

On the plus side, I managed to stretch the legs, get some fresh air and muddy my boots.

A good walk works wonders

I came across a collection of quotes that encourage us to go for a walk – including:

“Walking is good for solving problems—it’s like the feet are little psychiatrists.” Pepper Giardino 🙂

Well it does help clear your mind!!

A Walk in Richmond Park

If you’ve been, then you probably know Richmond Park is absolutely huge – so vast that you’d think you were in foreign wildlife reserve out in the wilderness somewhere….it just seems to go on and on.

You think you’ve covered some ground and then look at the map, only to realise you’ve barely edged your way in.

Richmond Park London trees cherrylsblog.com 20201228_133037

Richmond Park London trees cherrylsblog.com 20201228_131126

A walk in the park is always a good idea – surely!

Snakes

Apparently there are grass snakes in the park, not that I noticed any – has anyone seen any at Richmond Park?

They’re in the long grasses (wear boots if you’re venturing in).

On a slightly less alarming note – I did see some beautiful tree bark and impressive trunks. If you’ve seen the film Pan’s Labyrinth, there are lots of trees in the park that will make you think of that film!!

Richmond Park London cherrylsblog.com trees 20201228_142721

Richmond Park London cherrylsblog.com trees 20201228_142714

Richmond Park London cherrylsblog.com trees 20201228_142514

Richmond Park London cherrylsblog.com 20201228_150736

Lyme Disease and tick bites

Back to the more alarming stuff – the park website warns us to be aware of ‘ticks’ and Lyme disease (from infected ticks) in case you experience any symptoms after a visit. ⚠️ 🚨

The deer attract ticks.

NHS advice: To reduce the risk of being bitten

cover your skin while walking outdoors and tuck your trousers into your socks
use insect repellent on your clothes and skin – products containing DEET are best
stick to paths whenever possible
wear light-coloured clothing so ticks are easier to spot and brush off

The Deer

It would have been nice to see some deer, roaming wild and free – I’ve seen a lot of other people’s photographs – beautiful.

The rutting season runs in November. I wonder whether they tend to go off for a well earned rest for a while afterwards.

Apparently it’s not unusual for one stag to have up to 40 hinds, forty!!!

And another random interesting fact: amongst approx 60 species, reindeer are the only species of deer where the females have antlers as well as the males.