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Originally Posted by ShortNCuddlyAm
Sort-of yes. The ponies and cattle that roam the New Forest are (usually) owned by someone, but the owners are allowed to let their animals graze in the forest. I seem to recall that during acorn season, pigs can also be let out to forage. It's an ancient (or at least very old) right of the people living in that area, and it does have a name which escapes me at the moment. They pay a fee for each animal they let graze, and their animals must be marked (branded or ear tagged) to show their owner, and the tails are trimmed to a certain pattern to show the fees have been paid.
The grazing helps keep the open heathland as, well, open heathland. And the ponies eat gorse bushes as well as the more usual grass...
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Pigs are left out in the forest during the winter to eat the acorns (otherwise the horses suffer). As well as that, you also get donkeys out there. It's a very rich area for wildlife!
People who live in the forest often have rights (usually, I think) tied to the property to graze the forest and collect wood from it. There are a collection of wonderful words associated with these rights (I don't think they are confined to the New Forest, and are general ones): mast, pannage, turbary (and probably others I don't know or have forgotten).
As regards the deer, some are wild and some are owned. Generally you have to be careful of them throught the year as they are very skittish and fast moving. It's almost impossible to predict which way they will run and jump. And sometime, no matter how careful you are, when going through Forest the will just leap into the side of the car.
As for other (smaller) wildlife, apart from birds, you get badgers, foxes and rabbits (and doubtless others). The rabbits are most common, and like the deer run unexpectedly.
Oh. And squirrels.
