With rutting season underway, Carol Kirkwood was hoping to bring BBC Breakfast viewers a glimpse at the beasts live from Bushy Park, London this morning. The area is famous for having deer roam free and Carol was on hand to inform Dan Walker, Louise Minchin and BBC One viewers the dangers the animals can pose as well as praising the spectacle they can also provide. However, as the cameras cut to Carol for one of her weather reports, she was left disappointed viewers had missed the chance to see the creatures, claiming: “It’s live telly.”
Just as the clock had passed 7am, Dan and Louise cut to Carol in Bushy Park as she shared an update on the weather and how her sightings were going.
“Bushy Park in South West London is a deer park,” she informed Dan and Louise. “And it has roughly 320 fallow deer in it over the course of the year.
“We’re in rutting season at the moment, that lasts from October to early November and we’ve been listening to the roar of the stags this morning.”
Carol then detailed the warning signs the antlered guests could cause, despite them being fascinating to see in action.
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“Let’s talk about the red stags,” she continued. “In rutting season they physically change,
“So a well-developed, full-grown red stag can weigh about a quarter of a ton and they can run at 30 miles per hour.
“So it’s no surprise the Royal Parks are warning us they are wild animals and not to get close and take a selfie or something like that.”
Carol went on: “The advice being staying 50 metres away from them,
“And we’ve seen a few of them crossing the road but, as ever, live telly, as soon the cameras come on, woo, off they go.”
Dan and Louise were quick to make a joke about their omission as the action returned to the studio.
“Carol, they’re not scared of you,” Louise quipped to her co-star.
Dan weighed in: “At least they’re at a safe distance, Carol. Thank you for the warning.”
BBC Breakfast continues weekdays at 6am on BBC One.
