Spending a night in a forest to observe the deer’s slab

Brut America

What’s that surprising sound coming from the forests each year, between September and October? It’s the deer’s slab.  Brut nature followed wildlife photographer Jérémie Villet into a forest to understand this phenomenon.

Transcript

00:00So we are in the Rambouillet forest and we are going to observe the deer's brawn.

00:06So the first step to photograph animals is to hide the face and hands because the skin

00:31scares them a lot.

00:33Then we have to move forward in front of the wind so that the smell doesn't go to the animals.

00:41We can feel the wind coming from the north.

00:44Or to see, we can drop pollen or seeds.

00:48We can see that there is a bark behind me.

00:52It means that the wind is good.

00:56And then we use what we call the tracks.

00:59It's the passages that the animals use.

01:02For example, to see a passage.

01:04And then it goes this way.

01:06And so we make less noise.

01:08So we are going to settle there.

01:25We are going to put a cover.

01:26That is to say that we are going to put camouflage and we are going to sit down.

01:29We are not going to move.

01:30The camouflage will hide the shape we have of the man.

01:32They will not have two legs.

01:34They will not assimilate what is the deer.

01:37And there we have a view on a marsh where they can come.

01:39And behind there are passage areas.

01:42There may be wild boars too.

02:00And in fact yesterday I put myself there.

02:02There is a deer that was entering the pond.

02:04It was a big deer with 15 bodies.

02:06That is to say with 15 points on the woods.

02:08We call them andouillés.

02:09An old, hyper-muscled deer.

02:11I show you the images.

02:13In fact, the deer was hidden just on the left there.

02:16And he rolled into the mud to cool down.

02:19And he broke with his woods.

02:21He scattered on the vegetation.

02:24He tore everything off.

02:25It was great.

02:26It was just sunset.

02:35So there we had a view until the night.

02:37We can hear the deer mooing all around us.

02:40But we didn't see them in front of our camera.

02:44So we're going to go to bed.

02:46Instead of their cries, their moos.

02:49And then we hope to see them tomorrow morning.

02:51Or maybe one tomorrow morning.

03:05The sun is rising.

03:07We spent the night in the middle of the deer.

03:09We heard them mooing all around us.

03:12It's fascinating to hear very powerful cries without seeing them.

03:16They are trying to get territories,

03:18which are called places of moos.

03:20Where a big deer will stay for them.

03:22To try to keep some meat for him.

03:24He will moo very loudly.

03:26He will scream a very powerful roar.

03:28To show his strength.

03:31For a month, from mid-September to mid-October,

03:35he will take care of this area.

03:38He will defend it as best he can.

03:40By screaming and showing his opponent his level of strength.

03:44There are other deer that will come around.

03:47We call them pretender deer.

03:49They will scream to show what strength they have.

03:53So it's a whole night of verbal moos.

03:58They will scream very loudly.

04:02And if they can't share,

04:04if one of them is as strong as the dominant deer,

04:08he has the right to come inside the place of moos.

04:11Like an arena.

04:13They will do what we call a parallel walk.

04:16They will judge each other.

04:18To see if they are the same size.

04:20If they are as powerful.

04:22And in this case, they will fight.

04:24They will put their wood face to face.

04:26They will charge and push with all their strength.

04:29There is a whole ritual.

04:31And the goal for them is to stay as long as possible in this area.

04:44There is a wind.

04:49There is a wind and a bee.

04:52You can see his head.

04:55Bees stay with their fangs for more than a year.

05:00We call it a matriarchal cell.

05:03For example, here, she still has the young fang of the previous year.

05:09That we call an R.

05:11This is the period when she separates a little.

05:14But for a long time, she stays with her fang of the previous year.

05:19And she takes care of it completely.

05:22And the bees live without the fangs for the whole year.

05:26There is only during the Brahm where the bees and the fangs meet.

05:34There is a young fang that is there.

05:36Right in front.

05:38You can see it through the branches.

05:41As expected, he smelled it.

05:43The smell of the bees.

05:45So he took it back.

05:47He went to the same place as her.

05:51It's a fang that is two years old.

05:53A young fang.

05:55There is already wood with spikes.

06:01The morning has passed.

06:03We saw a fang.

06:05Then we saw a young fang.

06:09Then we saw two fangs too.

06:11They went to bed in the vegetation.

06:15We will be able to leave slowly.

06:18Without disturbing them by the place we arrived.

06:39I brought wax boxes.

06:41Every year, the waxes lose their wood.

06:43At the end of winter, in February.

06:45Then they grow back in six months.

06:47And then they are ready for the Brahm to fight.

06:49This wax is still alive.

06:51I picked up these two woods.

06:58We don't see the waxes.

07:00They are very discreet most of the time.

07:02Except during the Brahm.

07:04Especially when they lose their wood.

07:06They need to go to the fields.

07:08To get food.

07:10They hide in the fields.

07:12When their wood grows back.

07:14Thanks to all the food they take.

07:16During the Brahm, the waxes are fed all summer.

07:18So they have a lot of strength.

07:20Because during the Brahm, they will not feed.

07:22They will only think about reproduction.

07:24They lose up to 20% of their weight.

07:26By fighting.

07:28And by making a physical effort for a month.

07:31It's quite strong.

07:33To think that we are touching wood that has been beaten.

07:35In places that we do not know.

07:37And that belongs to the king of the forest.

07:39To this huge and powerful animal.

07:41The Brahm is the most fascinating moment.

07:43To go and see the waxes.

07:45Because it's the moment when they are demonstrative.

07:47Where we hear a lot of noise.

07:49We can spot them.

07:51It's the best time to go to the forest.

07:53But it's also the most sensitive time for them.

07:55So you have to be very careful not to disturb them.

07:57Or if you go alone.

07:59You stay on the paths.

08:01You listen in the distance.

08:03It's almost better as an experience.

08:05You go to the nightfall.

08:07You hear the waxes in the distance.

08:09And you see a lot of other things.

08:11It's a good excuse to reconnect with nature.

08:29You

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