Survival of the Fittest The Story of Warnham Deer Park
Warnham is famous for its record-breaking Deer (Photo courtesy of Warnham Park)
Two years ago, an eleven-year-old Stag called Poseidon produced antlers with 50 points, breaking a British record that had stood for 119 years. Still, he was not a pretty animal. He would often have a crow perched on top of his antlers, and the bird would nibble away at the points, gradually rounding them off. Jonathan Lucas, owner of the 215-acre Warnham Deer Park, would regularly see Poseidon strutting gracefully across the stunning, Oakladen Deer Park with the crow chipping away at the antlers which held considerable value; Jonathan had once turned down £10,000 from a Norwegian marksman wanting to claim the trophy. “I kept seeing him just outside the house with a crow perched on top of those antlers,” said Jonathan. “The crow would look at me and just start pecking, and I would be screaming ‘leave him alone! He’s going to be a 50 pointer!’ “The number of points for the British antler