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Don't mess with those Muntjac!
Dog owners warned to keep their animals on a lead in Ampthill Park
Dog owners have been warned by a vet to keep their pets on a lead in Ampthill Park after a spate of serious attacks by wild Muntjac deer.
The dogs suffered serious lacerations in the attacks, which have happened over the last 12 months.
Vet John Wakely, who treated six of the injured animals at Ridgeway Surgery in Flitwick, said: "All the dogs I saw needed extensive putting back together.
"They had deep lacerations and one wound was an inch and a half deep into the dog's shoulder muscle.
"I would advise dog owners to keep their pets on a lead, a dog could have been killed if it had been slashed in the wrong place."
Muntjac deer have been roaming in Ampthill Park for 80 years after escaping from a private collection in the 1920s.
Male Muntjacs sport fang-like tusks which they use to defend themselves, or as a show of force to rival bucks.
The Muntjac is sometimes referred to as the barking deer because of the repeated, loud bark it gives under pressure.
The deer have thrived in Bedfordshire despite conditions being very different to their native China.
Lorna Walker of the Greensand Trust, which helps to manage Ampthill Park, said: "Muntjac are not ideal because they eat new growth.
"It is very hard to get natural regeneration if you have a Muntjac problem. They are everywhere and even go into people's gardens and eat their flowers.
"Unless there is a national initiative taken there is very little we can do."
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Weather for Bedford
Tuesday 14 February 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 4 C to 8 C
Wind Speed: 16 mph
Wind direction: North west
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 3 C to 10 C
Wind Speed: 21 mph
Wind direction: North west
