Story By: Michael Leidig, Sub Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Central European News

A herd of deer have moved into the grounds of a historic castle after quarantine forced people to stay away.

The small herd, consisting of two male stags and five females, were apparently tempted into the grounds of the 16th century Renaissance castle in the Polish town of Niemodlin by the large expanse of grass.

The castle was once the heart of the estate of Niemodlin in Poland that was established in 1224 and the estate owners lived and controlled their lands from the castle until the 1940s.

According to the current owners, the deer are welcome as it means they save money on having to cut the grass using the lawnmower.

Castle administrator Joanna Kordasinska even said that they hoped to persuade the deer to stay once the castle opens again for business when the lockdown ends.

They found in castle records that the previous owner, Count Praschma, tried to encourage animals to return to the castle and they were delighted that without any effort the deer had returned.

She said: “They are really nice to look at and they do fit in very well with the surroundings, but also they are natural lawnmowers.”

She said that lawnmowers do not fit into the castle’s image as well as the deer do.

They have set up additional feeders to provide the animals with hay to encourage them to get used to the area while people still have to stay away, and have set up a competition locally to find names for the severed members of the fallow deer herd.