Dozing does and gambolling fawns. What a sight! They lay in a glade bathed in the afternoon sunlight – fifty-to-sixty gentle does while energetic fawns frisked around them.
This was one of the herds which have made their home in Moratuwahena, Athurugiriya.
Stopping at the Bodhirukkaramaya temple, we wended our way through a grove of kubuk and rubber trees in search of the deer. Initially, not a single doe, fawn or buck obliged us by coming to greet us. Then, there was a fleeting glimpse of a doe bounding away grace and speed personified. Soon, a second one followed with the same agileness and grace.
Alertness
Heartened by these sightings, we manoeuvered our way over boulders, roots and pits to the boundary of the kumbuk and rubber grove. Looking over the low wall we saw the herd. We tried to keep still as we could but the animals seemed to sense intruders and promptly went on the alert though we were some distance away. Sleeping does got up and looked around warily while others started to move away.
After a while, we retraced our steps to the Bodhirukkaramaya temple and met the chief incumbent, Ven. Wethara Siri Nanda Thera.
He recalled the origins of the herd. Apparently, in the 1940’s, a man named Wilson came to reside in Moratuwahena along with a pair of deer. After a while, the doe died and the buck or the male deer joined some deer residing in the nearby Army camp.
This herd thrived and multiplied and became a part of the village community. They and the villagers continued to co-exist despite friction. The friction is due to the deer devastating the villagers crops.
Ven. Wethara Siri Nanda Thera said that he too was given a pair of deer which he said he raised in a fenced enclosure. But one day, they escaped, and it is presumed that they joined their relatives who were freely roaming Moratuwahena.
Signs of ravages
At the temple, we saw young jak trees which were fenced in but still showed signs of ravages by deer.
We left the temple and drove further into the interior in search of more deer and Ranji Aiya, a boutique owner of the area who according to the Thera would be able to provide us with more information.
We took a bend in the road and there was a doe by the roadside and she was unfazed by our car. And a few metres ahead was a fawn who was so intent on looking into a home garden that it did not even look at our vehicle.
We stopped near a wooded area and made our way to its centre traversing a sluggish stream with the aid of a plank found lying nearby.
And suddenly, we spied a large herd of deer. Their senses were very sharp for they were on the alert at once even though we were at a distance. Three males with spreading antlers seemed to be the leaders.
Pix by Dushmantha Mayadunne