Forest Friends

When driving in the New Forest National Park the biggest hazard you are likely to come across is animals.
They have a mind of their own and love to congregate by the roadside, even take possession of the road and will only allow you to pass when the whim takes them.
Ponies, donkeys and cattle, pigs and sheep freely graze the land and help to keep the patchwork of different habitats intact. Deeper in the forest, you’ll find wild deer among canopies of oak and beech trees.
In a twenty minute drive this afternoon, I first came across these fearsome cattle by the roadside and blocking the road, and within a few hundred yards found sheep relaxing and completely blocking the way, to be followed shortly after by a collection of donkeys and ponies.
The Forest is also home to a variety of reptiles with open heathland in summer an ideal basking ground for adders and grass snakes, and many pools dotted around provide ideal conditions for frogs, toads and lizards.
All the animals are wild in the sense they can roam freely but in fact they are owned by New Forest Commoners — someone who owns or occupies land to which rights of common are assigned.
The golden rule is not to feed the animals —a forest byelaw forbids it and you can get £200 fine and a criminal record if you are enticed by the animals. Nor are they tame, and the gentlest looking pony or donkey can also kick and bite!
Ponies and cattle are likely to cross in front of traffic at any time and it is the animals which have the right of way in the forest. There is a maximum speed limit of 40mph on unfenced forest roads.

Sadly accidents still occur, and if you are involved in an accident with a pony it is an offence not to report it.