The bellowing roar of the deer

Autumn is one of the most magical moments of the year. The conifer woods transform into colour pallets and have nothing to envy a painting by Monet. The larch in fact change colour in this season, and their needles change from a brilliant summer green to all the shades of yellow and orange. At the same time however Red Spruce and Swiss pine maintain their dark green colour, creating a variation of shades to make the mountains very colourful. Then, if the first snow falls begin to cover the high quotes, the picture is perfect.

Leaving on foot from Foyer du Fond di Flassin, in this season, the atmosphere around us is exactly the one described and a few steps away, in the Vallone di Flassin we are captivated by autumn. The chosen itinerary is short and it’s best in late afternoon, with the aid of a headlight for the return trip. This is not an excursion where the important thing is to arrive at a precise destination, but the occasion to experience an unforgettable  reality and make this outing special and unique.

You are immediately aware that you’re not alone, but surrounded by a series of sounds, deep and strong, at disturbing intervals making us think of ancestral calls. This in fact is the mating season (known as the rut) for one of the biggest mammals that lives in our mountains, the deer. In these few weeks  the stags begin to contest the hinds and their territory, freeing all their strength with their bellowing roars. This call is their way of informing other males of their presence. During twilight, in certain chosen areas, the stags meet for conflict with the clashing of antlers, to claim the highest number of females for their harem. Walking through the mountains you can feel the atmosphere of dispute, and the air is scented with the odor that the deer give off when they rub against the earth and the trees. A final surprise might await, when in the first hours of dusk, a deer leaves the woods and makes his way towards the grassland of the valley, ready to proclaim himself King of the Forest.