Under most conditions it is simply not possible to practise stealth on the gravelled path through the wood. Loose shingle scrunches underfoot, alerting all animals for metres around, causing them to slink off into hiding.
But at gloomy first light, a downpour drowned out my steps. Rain spattered rhododendron bushes, every leaf wet and shiny, shaking as each drop struck home, every bush an evergreen drum kit.
So it was that I crept up and came very close to a muntjac doe, feeding under a yew tree. She was busy with her head down, nose brushing the ground, easily finding the berry-like seed coverings standing out like pea-sized glacé cherries in the grey gravel. Her lips mouthed yes-no-yes-no as she licked them up with relish, one after the other.
Perhaps she knew I was standing there all along, for, after a while, she raised her head slowly and I met her dark-eyed gaze. Down went her head and she began guzzling again. Her dainty forefeet lifted in slow motion, carrying her each time that little bit forward to the next patch.
The yew tree’s scientific name, Taxus, has the same root as the word toxic. The “berries”, actually arils, are poisonous to humans and some other animals; some people claim that as few as three arils can be enough to be fatal for people. Most parts of Taxus baccata are poisonous, including the tiny seed and the foliage, which remains toxic even when wilted. The bright red juicy flesh of the aril is the only safe part of the tree.
Badgers, and deer it would seem, for I had seen muntjacs feeding at this spot before, can eat yew arils without being affected, for the seeds pass through their digestion without breaking apart and releasing the deadly toxins.
The rain stopped and the deer disappeared. I reached a gate that was still under the yew’s canopy. An aril had landed on the top, out of the muntjac’s vacuum-cleaner reach. A little misshapen it oozed its clear, sticky, gel that more than one source claims is honey-sweet as well as harmless. I dabbed at it and lifted a droplet on my finger. Should I taste it? Yes-no-yes-no, oh yes!Derek Niemann @DerekNiemann
