Roe deer

Description

Adult roe deer have a body length of 93 to 140 cm and reach a shoulder height of between 54 and 84 cm. They weigh between 11 and 34 kg, depending on their nutritional status. Female roe deer do not wear antlers.

Due to several characteristics, the roe deer is classified as the so-called "Schlüpfertypus". Unlike the red deer, which escapes with a fast, persistent run when disturbed and is assigned to the "Läufertypus", the roe deer seeks cover in the thicket with a few quick jumps when disturbed. It has a slightly curved and forward sloping backbone, which makes the croup higher than the withers. The antlers of the ram are relatively small. The wedge-shaped body is adapted to silently weaving through dense vegetation. The legs are slender and long in relation to the rump, the hind legs are strongly bent at the hock.

The head is short in proportion to the body length, in profile it appears almost triangular. The ears are long oval and pointed and correspond in length to about two thirds of the length of the head. The neck is slender and longer than the head. The coat is shiny in summer on the upperparts and outerparts of the body, whereby the colouring can vary individually from a dark brown-red to a pale yellow. The inside of the legs and the underbelly are lighter and more yellowish. The region around the anus, called the mirror, stands out from the rest of the coat and is usually a yellowish white colour. Rams have a small white patch on the chin and on each side of the upper lip, and there is often a white patch above the nose. The ears of both sexes are brown-grey on the outside with a dark to black rim, whereas the inside of the ear is light grey to white. The transition from summer to winter coat takes place in September and October. At first it is inconspicuous because the red summer hair covers the growing grey winter hair for a long time. In contrast, the change of coat, which is visible to an observer, is very rapid and is completed within a week in healthy deer. In winter, the colour of the coat varies between light and dark grey. Even in winter coat, the underparts are lighter than the upper parts of the body. The change from winter to summer coat takes place in Central Europe in the period from March to April. The summer hair is first visible on the head, then on the withers. 

The fawn's coat is reddish brown and initially has white spotting on the back and flanks. This white spotted pattern gradually becomes less distinct from the age of one month and disappears by the age of two months due to overgrowth by red summer hairs. Under the long red hairs, the white and brown fawn hairs are still present until the change into the winter coat.

In the forest landscape of Europe, the roe deer inhabited forest clearings, forest edge zones as well as other habitats rich in undergrowth and with few trees, such as riparian areas, deltas and reeds that do not merge into forest landscapes. The forest areas that are now interspersed or surrounded by agricultural land offer the roe deer significantly more habitat. The population density here is 10 to 20 times higher than in forest areas whose tree population has a natural age structure. Optimal roe deer habitats consist of a tightly meshed mosaic of forestry and agricultural areas and feature thickets, old-growth woods, meadows, as well as tracks and roadsides overgrown with shrubs and herbs.

Regions with harsh winters and high, long-lasting snow cover are not very suitable for roe deer, as they have difficulty moving around and reaching food in high snow. In such regions, roe deer spend the winter in sometimes relatively small areas where less snow accumulates due to topographical features. Deer are also successful cultural successors that also colonise habitats that have been heavily modified by humans. Due to their relatively small size, even small forest remnants or hedges are sufficient cover for them. Accordingly, roe deer also colonise the open agricultural steppe.

The text is a translation of an excerpt from Wikipedia (https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reh). On wikipedia the text is available under a „Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike“ licence. Status: 23 September 2021