A visitor asked in the shop on Friday what time the deer are put out in the evening.
She had seen them on the hill at dusk on two consecutive nights and had formed the entirely logical view that this was arranged.
Mrs Kerr, behind the counter, said there is no arrangement.
The complication
The difficulty, as Mrs Kerr explained it, is that the honest answer is longer than it sounds.
The deer come down at dusk because that is when they move to graze. They come down to that hill in particular because of where the fences are, and the fences are where they are because of the forestry, and the forestry is there because of a decision made in the 1960s.
They also come down more than they used to, in numbers people here have opinions about.
“So there is no timetable. But there is a reason they are there at that time, and there is a reason there are that many, and it is not nature doing it on its own. It is just nobody put them out this morning.”
Mrs Kerr
Afterwards
The visitor said this was more interesting than the answer she had expected, and asked several follow-up questions, and bought a map.
She was back on Saturday to say she had seen eleven.
Mrs Kerr said that was a good night, and it was.
