Williamson's Weekly Nature Notes with Richard Williamson

THE most dangerous animal in Britain is now at almost plague numbers. One and a quarter million are on the loose. They threaten the lives of travellers throughout the land. Ten people are killed each year by these large mammals and 400 more are maimed or injured.

By The Newsroom

Published 7th Nov 2006, 16:27 BST

Updated 8th Jun 2018, 04:21 BST

Encounters, usually at night on lonely country roads, are terrifying. I have been present at half a dozen, so I know.

One night, a year or two ago, the police called me out to help at such a scene. A young woman, shocked by what had happened sat by the side of the road sobbing.

The body of her assailant lay in the middle of the road.

It had crushed her car, which was a wreck. Is all this over dramatic?

No, just fact. The woman, like the others, had been travelling at what she had thought was a normal speed through these woods.

There was no traffic, the road was clear. Then a quarter ton missile hurtled into her car with the force of 60G. Her assailant was a mature fallow buck.

(For full feature see West Sussex Gazette November 8