A large deer in the midst of very small flies (8)

I believe the answer is:

vamooses

'flies' is the definition.

'a large deer in the midst of very small' is the wordplay.
'large deer' becomes 'moose' (I've seen this before).
'in the midst of' indicates putting letters inside.
'very' becomes 'v' (abbreviation).
'small' becomes 's' (abbreviation - e.g. clothes size).
'a'+'moose'='amoose'
'v'+'s'='vs'
'amoose' inserted into 'vs' is 'VAMOOSES'.

(Another definition for vamooses that I've seen is " Leaves".)

I've seen this clue in The Times.

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