III.

Wildlife

Red deer and ponies are to be found on Exmoor, and fallow deer and ponies on Dartmoor. Otters live in the north Devon rivers. Lydford Gorge, owned by the National Trust, in the north of the county, offers not only spectacular scenery, but the opportunity to see water ouzels, herons, and other birds. Near Slapton Sands on the south coast is a lake known as Slapton Ley, which is a sanctuary for waders and other wildfowl; north of Dawlish is a 200-hectare (500-acre) nature reserve. On the north-west coast at Braunton Burrows, the sand dunes form another nature reserve. The entire Devon coastline is well populated by birds, including guillemots, and all kinds of gulls; from Bideford, a boat sails to the national marine nature reserve of Lundy Island, where there are puffins and razorbills, as well as grey seals, and, on the island, wild goats and sika deer.