A stroll with deer, feeding them and other fun moments in a fence free zoo.
Okay, maybe the title is a little bit exaggerated and it was more of a deer park rather than a safari, but somehow I had to attract your attention, so I can describe to you the incredible moments we had in the Marselisborg Deer Park.
Almost everybody has seen a deer. Maybe on the road, maybe in the forest, but sadly, we see more of their backs as they run from us, rather than the deer itself.
For the majority of my life, I lived in Bulgaria, and there we don’t really have deer parks. In the Scandinavian countries, there are plenty of them, and we finally got to visit one.
Of the many parks, we chose Marselisborg Park, not for anything in particular. We were in the area visiting the Infinity Bridge. The park is spacious, with many benches, bins, and toilets.
Before going to the deer, we bought a few kilos of carrots, as I read that in parks like this one, people can feed the animals with carrots and apples. In a deer park, the entrances are free but there are no animals allowed as the deer are walking freely.
As we entered the park, we saw many signs alerting us that the young animals could get aggressive as they are forming herds at the moment. I could not get how a deer could be aggressive until the moment we started feeding a group of youngsters. Not that they started biting us or whatever. However, they were coming very close, without any fear or doubt. As we continued feeding them, they started to come closer and closer, sniffing our clothes and searching for the carrots.
Once we showed them we had food, they did not let us get away. The whole herd was chasing us, trying to get more and more.
The park is relatively big and has different zones for the different types of deer. They are hoofed ruminant mammals, forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk, the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the reindeer, white-tailed deer, the roe deer, and the moose.
As we were walking around exploring the park, a male deer sympathized with us and fully trusted us after a few carrots. This was a one-of-a-kind experience. It literally made us feel like Disney princesses, especially those with the ability to talk with animals. The fallow deer started sniffing from afar, trying to find where we hid the goodies. We tested his instinct and kept a small piece of carrot in one hand. He sniffed his way around and found exactly where the carrot was, and with his lips and tongue, without hurting us, he managed to take it in his mouth. I would not touch an animal if it looked scared or unsure, but this one gave us full permission to pet it and feel its amazing fur. He also had his moment of exploration as he sniffed us from head to toe. I am not sure if at this moment he was searching for carrots or maybe he was trying to figure out who we were.
After an hour, we decided to continue our walk and check the other parts of the park. Well, our gorgeous friend had a different idea. He walked behind us across the whole park until the exit. It was as if I was walking my dog in the park. Such a wonderful feeling and so much trust coming from his side.
The deer parks are a must-do if you come across one. The experience is far from the one in a typical zoo, as there you can only see the animals. In those types of parks, you can feed them, explore their habits in a natural habitat, and somehow become closer to them. It is very important to move slowly without any quick gestures, as they can easily get scared and run away. Take your trash and do not lit, as this can be fatal for them. Also, please feed the animals only the already mentioned foods because any change in their diet, especially bread, can be very harmful.
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