If you put the word "berrea" in Google, the results will give you the measure of a natural event that has become the excuse to enjoy the beauty of the countryside and the wild life in our Iberian Peninsula. The show opens the travel season fall and the lover of this station already makes reservations for him.
The bellow, the bellow, of the deer male in heat, that guttural sound that connects with those other sounds of mother nature –call them a volcano, crashing ocean waves or the sound of birds swirling to sleep…– stops us, reconnects us and makes us feel somehow free. To hit your destination we collect all the coordinates that will make your rut this year a memorable getaway.
Crossing glances. Cabañeros National Park.
A TOUR TO SEE THE DEER?
The season has already started. Every year they change the dates -that depend from the drop in temperatures, the arrival of the first rains and whether you are looking for the bellows in the north or south of Spain–.
Also varies the Where do the animals move? So it's not crazy to live the bellowing with a guided tour, who will pick you up at your accommodation in the mountains and will take you to the point where you can spot a male deer with the females. “The best times to see the bellows are sunrise or sunset because at night you can only hear it”, explains Beatriz Pérez de Turisnat, a company with professionals who have been working as guides for more than 30 years Sierra de Cazorla Natural Park. Although it must be said that there are guided tours that also they enter the mountain under the stars.
The Sierra de Cazorla, the perfect autumn getaway.
Beatriz recommends the tours because in addition to being guided by professionals who teach you other aspects of the natural park “They take you into restricted areas in which individuals with their vehicle cannot enter”. This type of route usually lasts between 3 and 4 hours. for those who expect to find a deer fighting with another in its path –those duels that the great Felix Rodriguez de la Fuente, Pérez explains that "it is not easy, what is usual is to see a male with several females."
They also make it very easy for you in one of the most recommended national parks to see the bellows, the Cabañeros National Park touring the Raña de Santiago in a 4x4, known as the Spanish Serengeti.
Cabañeros, the Spanish Serengeti. Photo: Cabañeros National Park.
SPOTS TO ATTEND THE SHOW AT YOUR OWN AIR
What if you go on your own? This is what the town of Piedrabuena, in Real city. From Monday to Friday, and until October 10, in this town, which is very close to Cabañeros, a strategic observation point this year. There, on the Monte de Nuestra Señora del Roario, neighbors and interested parties meet at sunset, at 6:30 p.m., to attend the show while it lasts. bring binoculars And, if you can, a telescope so you don't miss any detail.
“They are adult males, between 5 and 6 years old, who produce this sound to attract females expel other rival males from the best feeding territories. The hinds remain with the young from the previous year, roaming the dehesa of the best land to feed. Offering it safely is the task of the male, who finally acquires a harem of females to reproduce”, one of the organizers tells us.
A group of females roams the territory. Photography: The Ecotourist.
the bellowing It usually lasts between two and four weeks. a time in which, as they explain to us, the males do not eat, they only bellow. "Is a strenuous activity which sometimes has a tragic end for some, especially the older ones, those who are between 9 and 10 years old”, explains one of the Environmental Agents of Castilla la Mancha.
COORDINATES FOR A NOTE BERREA
There are hundreds of places to attend the bellowing in our country, but some are especially attractive. Alfonso Polvorinos, director of the multimedia magazine of responsible tourism, The Ecotourist gives us the keys so that, given the choice, we seek those destinations where the experience is lived more intensely. He, a journalist, biologist and naturalist, knows the places and selects his five unbeatable.
Among the favorites are aller mountains, a council in the central mountain of Asturias where “the acoustics of the bellowing, typical of the valleys of the Cantabrian Mountains, It's extraordinary." Sensations multiply here, and if on top of that we stay in a charming mansion like La Casona El Castañíu better. He has been working with mountain guides for more than 20 years, carrying out an experience that consists of walking through incomparable landscapes, enjoying the sunrise or sunset in the mountains, the spectacular views and the deer.
Another special destination to experience the bellowing is “la Sierra de La Culebra, in Zamora, because of the size of the deer. When the Iberian wolf is present through these lands, this affects the deer population having more powerful specimens. The males that can be seen there, which are definitely the protagonists of the bellowing, are spectacular.
In action, in the Cabañeros National Park.
And in the center of the Polvorinos peninsula stands out "the Cabañeros National Park, because being the meadow and there is little geographical obstacle, they look better and they sound better” . In addition, this landscape of Cabañeros, first thing in the morning and at sunset, with sunrise and sunset, is spectacular”. In the area, a place so that the fun does not end after the bellowing is the accommodation Cabañeros Ecolodge, with log cabins in the trees with views of the Abraham Reservoir.
A last special destination to experience the bellows, with a totally different landscape from the previous ones, is “el Doñana national park ”, explains Alfonso Polvorinos. There, one of the most charming accommodations in the area, the La Malvasia Hotel, it becomes a strategic place to attend this sound and visual spectacle. That you do not have the opportunity to see it? You can always listen to it here.
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