Some of your readers may be interested in a recent experience I had. I was driving towards Wilton late at night on the A36 Warminster Road when just before the town I suddenly noticed a deer by the side of the road. Its hind legs were on the pavement, its front on the road. As I slowly drove past and around it, it remained quite motionless. Curious, I reversed so it again was in front of me. I got out of the vehicle sure it would run off, but it did not. It just stayed motionless. I went up to it thinking it may be injured. I stroked its head, which it seemed not to object to.
At this time, the fields across the road had become a lake from flooding, so if it crossed the road there was no easy path for it to take and behind it was a wall and impenetrable hedge. Knowing at night now, many trucks thunder through Wilton (A36) carrying spent asphalt or bringing new chippings to road crews, I thought perhaps I should help get it to a better place. It was in fact a muntjac, a small dog sized deer, now wild in many parts, but originally from South East Asia.
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I went to pick it up, indenting to put it in my van and then take it to such better place. I lifted it up about six inches - it did not resist or struggle, however it was prompted to give out a sort of bark - obviously it was not keen on being lifted, so I put it back down. About a minute later it suddenly trotted off. I have a theory on its predicament and behaviour, but I'll leave that for now. I was surprised at how much communication and empathy could be exchanged with this wild animal.
I freely admit I value wildlife and nature probably more than the average person. This is partly due to my younger years in the late 60's and 70's, living in a semi-rural environment. I do wonder however whether the threat and reality of many human activities to loss of wild animal and plant ecosystems is comparable to human activity on damaging climate change.
I recently read an article on Agricultural Breeders developing for the first time a cultivatable potato that is self-fertile and breeds true, so growers could plant using seeds instead of tuber clones, to achieve such they had to go back to the wild to obtain plants to cross with existing domesticated.
For the vast majority of my motoring years I have used a vehicle sparingly and now view the current road structure and any vehicles using it somewhat like asbestos - a good idea at the time but at what future cost. Roads and motor vehicles cannot be uninvented but design and application can change.
M. Ward
Wilton
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