Letter: A bit like a pig

Sir: Paul Gosling, on his Welland Valley walk (23 February), reports being 'startled by a heavy animal, which looked like a wild pig' while in Wakerley Great Wood. This was probably a muntjac, Muntiacus reevesi, a small introduced species of deer. This animal has become common in the past few years in the plantations of north Northamptonshire, and I now see one on most of my visits to this area. The deer is solitary, and races away from out of the undergrowth, often showing its white rump.

Yours faithfully,

JACK LAUNDON

Morden, Surrey

(Photograph omitted)