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In La Vanguardia's Readers' Photos we can see some of the first images of the rutting spectacle in the Garrotxa region, with the antler fight of the males and the sound of the bellowing.
Fallow deer compete with each other to earn the right to mate with females in heat. We can see the fights between them and the chases in the middle of the forest.
Demonstrations of power by the males include bellowing and ritual fights, in which they use their antlers, as can be seen in these images.
The bellowing or bellowing corresponds to the deer's mating period, due to the guttural sound emitted by the males. It begins at the beginning of autumn, normally at the end of September and beginning of October.
At this time, the males are at their peak and try to take over a territory, especially where the females usually drink and find food.
Winning males gather harems of up to 50 females. The antlers, the male's main weapon, fall in March and grow again, a process that is repeated annually and is identified with a stimulus for reproduction.
The rut has become a real tourist attraction. In fact, trips are organized in autumn and there are some natural places in Spain considered ideal to witness this ritual, such as the Sierra de Andújar (Jaén), the Sierra de la Culebra (Zamora), the Montaña Palentina (Palencia), Monfragüe and Saja -Besaya (Cantabria), Cijara (Extremadura), Los Alcornocales (Cádiz) and Cabañeros (Ciudad Real). In Catalonia, one of the best places is Alta Garrotxa.
