Santuary and sustenance in the wetlands.

Marshland and waterside areas are attractive to many mammals because they offer good shelter and varied food. Waterside plants are often luxuriant and include dense masses of tall rushes, reeds and sedges where animals can hide. Clumps of alder growing growing at the water`s edge provide roosting spots for bats in crannies behind fissured bark, alder leaves are also favourable with beavers as they don`t contain many tannins. On wetlands, animals are safe from disturbance because few people, and fewer vehicles, venture for over squelchy ground. Some mammals- bats and water deer for example- live near the water and take advantage of what it offers without getting too wet. But beavers, coypus(these are smaller than a beaver, their is debate whether there are any still living in Britain), water voles, water shrews and otters spend a lot of time in the water. Water voles and coypus feed on waterside plants. So in a few places , do chinese water deer.Leaf eating larvae, including many moth caterpillars, also live on plants and both the larvae and the adults are good food for bats. The water itself also provides a food supply for bats, because the larvae of gnats, mosquitoes, mayflies and many other insects live in the water, emerging in their thousands as they become adults. Damp waterside soils are full of earthworms, which shrews and moles feed on. Fish, frogs and other creatures in the water provide food for the carnivorous otter and mink.

The cervidae family.

Part seven the Chinese water deer.

The reed swamps and grassy river valleys of north-east china are the original home of the Chinese water deer. They were introduced to England at woburn park, Bedfordshire, early this century. Animals bred there were supplied to whipsnade park and also to private landowners, who in return sent them to other parks in several counties. After several escapes occurred and a few feral populations have become established. The two main spots are the cambridgeshire fens and the broads of east anglia, where there are wetlands and dense reed beds and clumps of alder that provides thick cover. Unlike any other male deer in Britain, the Chinese water deer has no antlers but has tusk like teeth protruding about two and a half inches below their upper lip. The deer is slightly higher at the haunch than at the shoulder, and in summer is a sleek red-brown. It has large, rounded ears which are very furry on the inside. The buck stands about twenty four inches high at its shoulder, with the female being slightly smaller. Feral Chinese water deer are usually solitary or in very small groups. In contrast, the deer that live in parks gather in large groups, because of this they are easily seen. They leap and bound through the long grass, their hind legs are flung high in a manner like hares. Their rutting season is between November and December. They bark, whicker and squeak as they chase each other. Fawns are born about June and are spotted. Twins and triplets are usual, but sextuplets may occur. Many fawns will die not long after birth. The tail is short and held close to the rump. It is inconspicuous, especially during winter, the deer's coat is a pale grey-brown colour during winter. The Chinese water deer feed mainly on grasses, rarely browsing on shrubs or trees. As with other ruminants, a period of grazing is followed by a period of rest, during which the deer chews the cud.