Muntjac deer in our garden

Muntjac, also known as Barking Deer, are small deer of the genus Muntiacus. Muntjac are the oldest known deer, appearing 15-35 million years ago, with remains found in Miocene deposits in France and Germany. A small family (one male, two females) shows up in our garden most evenings, to graze on the lawn and drink from the pond at Homelands bed and breakfast.

The present-day species are native to Southeast Asia and can be found from India and Sri Lanka to southern China, Taiwan, Japan (Boso Peninsula and Oshima Island), India and Indonesian islands. They are found in the eastern Himalayas. They are also found in Myanmar. Inhabiting tropical regions, the deer have no seasonal rut and mating can take place at any time of year; this behaviour is retained by populations introduced to temperate countries.

Muntjac has been introduced to England, with wild deer originating from escapes from Woburn Park around 1925. Muntjac have expanded very rapidly and are now present in most English counties south of the M62 and have also expanded their range into Wales. The British Deer Society coordinated a survey of wild deer in the UK between 2005 and 2007 and reported that muntjac deer had noticeably expanded their range since the previous census in 2000. It is anticipated that muntjac may soon become the most numerous species of deer in England and may have also crossed the border into Scotland with a couple of specimens appearing in Northern Ireland in 2009 also they have been spotted in the republic of Ireland in 2010, almost certainly with some human assistance.

Males have short antlers, which can re-grow, but they tend to fight for territory with their "tusks" (downward pointing canine teeth). The presence of these "tusks" is otherwise unknown in native British wild deer and can be discriminatory when trying to differentiate a Muntjac from an immature native deer although Chinese Water Deer also have visible tusks but are much less widespread.

Muntjac meat is the finest type of venison available in the UK. There is no specified closed season for hunting  because of their ability to breed at any time of year. In addition to that they are considered an ‘invasive species’ and ‘pest’ by the conservation organisations, due to the enormous damage they can cause to crops and woodlands. 

Cowslips in our orchard!

A bit of a surprise, now the weather has got warmer, is the appearance of lots of cowslips (Primula Veris) in our orchard. Cowslip is a rather pretty little low growing herbaceous perennial plant. It very often appears where there are little or no ‘inputs’ of fertiliser, moss or weed killer. So that is a good sign!

 The deep yellow flowers are produced in the spring between April and May; they are in clusters of 12-25 together on a single stem 6-18 cm tall, each flower 10-14 mm broad.

It is frequently found on open fields, meadows, and coastal dunes and clifftops. It is often included in wild-flower seed mixes used to landscape motorway banks and similar civil engineering earth-works.

Cowslip is a favourite food of wild rabbits- of which we have plenty in the gardens at Homelands! 

It is used medicinally as a diuretic, an expectorant, and an antispasmodic, as well as for the treatment of headaches, whooping cough, tremors, and other conditions. But not by us. 

Cowslips were once made into wine – a much more attractive idea.

An ancient name for the plant is "paigle". Another name, herb Peter, derives from the tale of St. Peter dropping the keys to theGates of Heaven, with the cowslip springing from the spot.

In the nineteenth century, cowslips were used as a garland on maypoles. 

Cowslip leaves have been traditionally used in Spanish cooking as a salad green. Uses in English cookery includes using the flowers to flavour country wine and vinegars; sugared to be a sweet or eaten as part of a composed salad while the juice of the cowslip is used to prepare tansy for frying. The close cousin of the cowslip, the primrose (P. vulgaris), has often been confused with the cowslip and its uses in cuisine are similar with the addition of its flowers being used as a colouring.

Mistletoe picture

Mistletoe: Parasite or beneficial, medicine or poison?

Our garden has some one dozen fruit trees, after the previous use as an orchard by a commercial farmer.  Most of the orchard is ‘infected’ with mistletoe.

Mistletoe is the name of a hemi-parasitic plant  that grows attached to and within the branches of a tree or shrub.  The word 'mistletoe' (Old English mistiltan) is of uncertain etymology; it may be related to German Mist, for dung and Tang for branch, since mistletoe can be spread in the faeces of birds moving from tree to tree. However, Old English mistel was also used for basil.

Life cycle

Mistletoe plants grow on a wide range of host trees, and commonly reduce their growth but can kill them with heavy infestation.  Almost all mistletoes are hemi-parasites, bearing evergreen leaves that do some photosynthesis, and using the host mainly for water and mineral nutrients. However, the mistletoe first sprouts from bird faeces on the trunk of the tree and indeed in its early stages of life takes it nutrients from this source.

Most mistletoe seeds are spread by birds, such as the Mistle Thrush in Europe.  They derive sustenance and agility through eating the fruits and nuts (drupes). The seeds are excreted in their droppings and stick to twigs, or more commonly the bird grips the fruit in its bill, squeezes the sticky coated seed out to the side, and then wipes its bill clean on a suitable branch. The seeds are coated with a sticky material called viscin which hardens and attaches the seed firmly to its future host.

Ecological importance

Mistletoe was often considered a pest that kills trees and devalues natural habitats, but was recently recognized as an ecological keystone species, an organism that has a disproportionately pervasive influence over its community. A broad array of animals depends on mistletoe for food, consuming the leaves and young shoots, transferring pollen between plants, and dispersing the sticky seeds.

A study of mistletoe in junipers concluded that more juniper berries sprout in stands where mistletoe is present, as the mistletoe attracts berry-eating birds which also eat juniper berries. Such interactions lead to dramatic influences on diversity, as areas with greater mistletoe densities support higher diversities of animals. Thus, rather than being a pest, mistletoe can have a positive effect on biodiversity, providing high quality food and habitat for a broad range of animals in forests and woodlands worldwide.

Medicinal use

Mistletoe leaves and young twigs are used by herbalists, and it is popular in Europe, especially in Germany, for treating circulatory and respiratory system problems. Use of mistletoe extract in the treatment of cancer originated with Rudolf Steiner, the founder of Anthroposophy. He compared the parasitic nature of the mistletoe plant to that of cancer, and believed that cancer represents a faltering of the body's spiritual defences. Som mistletoe preparations are diluted homoeopathically. Mistletoe extract is sold as Iscador, Helixor, and several other trade names. As mistletoe is a poisonous plant that causes acute gastrointestinal problems including stomach pain, and diarrhoea along with low pulse, we here at Homelands question the wisdom of using those alternative practitioners…  You certainly will not find it on our breakfast table!

Other uses

The sticky juice of mistletoe berries was used as adhesive to trap small animals or birds. In South Africa it is called "Bird lime" in English and ‘voelent’ in Afrikaans. A handful of ripe fruits are chewed until sticky, and the mass is then rubbed between the palms of the hands to form long extremely sticky strands which are then coiled around small thin tree branches where birds perch. When a bird lands on this it gets stuck to the branch and is then easy to catch by hand.

Our owl box some 15 feet off the ground in a mature tree.

Owl Box No. 2383 at Homelands bed and breakfast

Picture of Barn Owl Box

After four pretty hard weeks dealing with all the things that need sorting when you move into a new house, today we finally found the time to go to the Gloucester Barn Owl Centre and collect an owl box. See http://www.barnowl.co.uk for more information. We are now the proud owner of owl box No. 2383.

The staff on site were very helpful and showed us how to put up the owl box, how to clean and maintain it, and what we could expect to move in (grey squirrels, kestrels, little owls, jackdaws, and maybe, just maybe, a barn owl!)

The owl box is much larger than expected and of a very solid construction, and supplied with all the required fittings and a set of printed instructions. By buying an owl box you support the centre, a Charity, so your money is well spent. You van buy the boxes on Ebay; or direct from the centre through their secure online shop: http://www.barnowl.co.uk/product6.asp ; or collect them to save on postage and packing.

The box and its location is recorded, and if and when owls move in we will allow access so the chicks can be ringed and the data used for further research.

We will put it up this Easter weekend – when it stops raining! It has to be some 10’-15’ off the ground, in a quite open location so any ‘passing’ owls can see it and think the opening is a natural hole in a tree. We will try to locate it so that it may just be possible to observe the owls from our letting room ‘Sudeley’, but you will need a pair of binoculars as it some 100 yards out in the garden.

The far end of our garden, behind the conservation woodland, backs onto an area of uncultivated land, and our neighbours’ gardens around the proposed site of the owl box are also quite wild, so that should be ideal habitat for the owls’ natural prey: The short-tailed vole; other rodents include shrews, and wood mice.

And just changing the subject: Our first website is now up and running - and we can accept bookings and payments online. Please review www.cotswoldsaccommodation.net