Animal magic at Saltford golf course

TIGER Woods may be having his troubles with birdies off the golf course but players at Saltford Golf Club have been experiencing problems of a different kind.

On holes 10 and 11 in the middle of the scenic Duchy of Cornwall owned course a pesky crow has taken a liking to golf balls.

While down on the 18th hole several muntjac deer have been spotted around the green.

The crow lies in wait and as soon as a ball lands on a green it swoops down and takes it away.

One member said: “We spotted the bird take a ball and drop it near a hedge. I followed it and discovered a little pile of balls it was obviously hoarding.”

It solved the mystery of why often a player’s ball would hit the green but when they got to the putting surface they wondered why they couldn’t find it.

In another incident a player said: “I couldn’t believe when my partner said watch that bird he will have your ball. It grabbed it, dropped it by the side of the green, pecked it a few times then flew off with it.

“Staggeringly the same thing happened on the next hole. So I lost two balls in two holes after hitting two reasonable shots. And we noticed that when a ball went into some water in a bunker, it flew down, thought about it and flew off because it wasn’t going to get its feet wet.”

Meanwhile a club employee said he thought several muntjac deer were living in the undergrowth near the 18th green. Young deer and other wildlife are often spotted around the course it was unusual to see muntjac.

According to the British Deer Society they were first introduced from China to Woburn Park in Bedfordshire in the early 20th century.

A common name for muntjac is “barking deer” resulting from the repeated, loud bark given under a number of circumstances. An alarmed muntjac may scream whereas maternal does and kids squeak.