The Siege of White Deer Park

The Siege of White Deer Park is the fifth book of The Animals of Farthing Wood series. It was first published in 1985 and has since been included in a single book with In the Path of the Storm and Battle for the Park in the "Second Omnibus" edition (Hutchinson, 1995).

Plot summary
The animals of White Deer Park face their greatest danger yet as a silent and deadly predator (basically a 'big cat') begins to terrorise the inhabitants of the park, leaving them all fearing for their lives. Some of the Original Farthing animals have died of old age (like Hare) while others (like Kestrel) have moved away from Farthing land to hunt without the risk of killing their friends.

Reception
This proved to be the poorest received of all the Farthing Wood series, as it is only resolved in the end by a deus ex machina - unlike the other books where the animals work together to overcome their problems.

TV series
The main plot of this book is not covered in the television series, possibly because the high level of horror and peril was seen as unsuitable for a children's TV series. However, the sub-plot featuring Badger mistaking Mossy for his dead father Mole was included in the second season, while Adder meeting Sinious was included in the third season.