Nature Watch, with Ron Freethy

THIS last week I had to travel a long distance in order to study two of Britain's most fascinating mammals.

Firstly, I went to the Farne Islands in Northumberland and - despite wet weather - the wind was not too strong to prevent me from touring the breeding colonies of the seals.

Fishermen throughout much of Britain are now complaining that there are too many grey seals around the coastline. They are suggesting a cull. I would not be happy to see this happen because the grey seal's stronghold is around the coast of Britain. Looked at from a worldwide point of view, the grey seal is still very much a threatened species. Although it is not quite so threatened as the tiger and the panda, it is just as important.

A couple of days later and in much better weather I spent several hours in a Lake District wood watching the largest land mammal found in Britain. This is the red deer, another species increasing in numbers. We should not cull this either but enjoy having them around us. The red deer is now starting its rutting season and the stags can be aggressive while holding their harems of hinds together.

These contrasting mammals are both beautiful in their own way.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.