Photos: Up to 200 deer emerge from morning fog in France
‘Their eyes are like radars. They spotted me long before I saw them,’ said the amateur wildlife photographer who captured the scene
Amateur wildlife photographer Renaud Glotoff pictured the bevy of deer in the Chaux forest, Franche-Comté, on Sunday, November 10
Renaud Glotoff
An amateur photographer captured this amazing scene as up to 200 deer emerged from a forest near the Jura mountains in the morning fog in early November.
Renaud Glotoff was visiting the Chaux forest in Jura, and awaited the deer at 7:30 in the hope of capturing some. Visibility was limited due to the fog.
“I couldn’t actually see anything at first. I knew where they were and where they gather at the end of the mating season,” he told France 3. “After that, it's a matter of luck. They were close to the edge of the forest near the village where they know they are safe.
Read more: Listen: Stag bellowing season underway in French forests
“I heard a noise and came across them in the field. I wasn't expecting them there.
“There must have been more than 150 in the field and at least 50 more in the wood behind.
“I approached them as best I could. I trudged through the ploughed earth. You have to take your time, there's no point in hurrying. Their eyes are like radars. They spotted me long before I saw them.”
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More kills permitted due to rising numbers
Deer numbers have been rising in recent years, particularly in the Chaux forest. The French forestry bureau, the ONF, says there are now so many in the 20,500 hectare forest that they threaten to unbalance its ecology.
In 2022-23 the ONF approved the culling of 266 deer - but by 2024 this had risen to 556.
The ONF says that in 2025 more will be culled.
Read more: Associations campaign to stop culling of 500 chamois in France
“Only hunting can regulate overpopulation in the absence of large predators,” the ONF announced on the forest’s website.
“Every day, in this forest, which is low in biomass and therefore not very nutritious for animals, up to 12kg of young trees can be eaten by young deer”’, ONF Jura director Florent Dubosclard said.
Mr Glotoff says he is proud of the moment he captured. “For the last three years, hunting quotas in the Chaux forest have been rising,” he said. “I try to benefit from the deer as much as possible while they are there.”
