Warmer springs bring early red deer rut

Wild red deer on Rum are rutting earlier in the year compared with decades ago, a University study shows. Scientists believe the annual rutting season on the Hebridean island could be changing because of warming spring and summer temperatures. The study, carried out by scientists at Edinburgh and Cambridge, focused on a population of wild deer that featured in the BBC TV series Autumnwatch. Two-week shift. Although many kinds of plants and animals are known to be reproducing earlier, evidence of early reproduction in large mammals is very unusual. Much more work is needed to understand whether similar changes are taking place in deer populations elsewhere, and what the implications will be. Dr Dan Nussey School of Biological Sciences Scientists showed that the deer rutting and calving seasons are now up to two weeks earlier on average compared with 30 years ago.