Exclosures best for saplings

SOME people out deer watching of late have contacted us in relation to what they have described as “no-go areas” where quite high fencing barred their way into sections of woodland.

The aim of the fencing, in Killarney and Wicklow National Parks, is to keep deer out of certain areas in order to allow young trees to grow and enable the woodlands to regenerate. Known as “exclosures”, the fencing has been in some areas for more than 40 years.

The exclosures have, in recent years, been introduced to other areas of Killarney National Park, especially around Moll’s Gap and Derrycunnihy, on the mountain road to Kenmare, and in the lyrically-named townlands of Ullauns, Poulgower and Gortroe.