By the time of writing, May is just around the corner and so is summer and with summer comes warmth and sun. One is able to discover more and more wildlife and vegetation returning, giving new energy and life to the otherwise boring day-to-day life and will be more offspring than before, too.

One of those is the European roe deer (Its scientific classification being Capreolus capreolus). The male roes are called bucks, females are does and the young are called kids. These mated last summer – mid-July to mid-August – and their extremely cute kids will be born by May-June. They have a bright rusty red coat and some kids have white spots; those are particularly well hidden in the tall grass that is starting to grow. This is the kind of deer seen in the original 1923 Bambi novel, and after a lot of convincing by Jake Day, one of Disney’s first and best known animators, also in the animated film later [2].

These animals are not the largest British deer at 0.6m to 0.75m tall at the shoulder and weighing up to 25kg, and have an average lifespan of 10 years in the wild.
Roes are normally solitary but sometimes form small groups in winter, and are more active in open spaces during darkness, but are active throughout all 24h. They do not maintain exclusive territories but live within so-called home ranges, which can overlap. However, normally same-sex roes do not have overlapping home ranges. There have been observations of does mating with several bucks and bucks mating with several does, but that is a rarer occurrence. Kids are normally born in twins, unlike other deer. 

When in danger, both sexes make barking noises that sound dog-like, and during breeding season (called rut), bucks become aggressive and deadly fights can happen over territory and does.
When the rut comes, does make high pitched piping calls to attract bucks, which respond with a rasping noise. Kids make whistle in a high-pitched matter to attract their mother’s attention when they get lost.

Roes have both positive and negative influences to the countryside as they can cause damage to young trees and woodlands, but also farmer’s crops. However, many landowners see stalking roe deer and sale of venison as a helpful side income, so their contribution is relatively balanced.


[1] (Whole article, facts about roe deer): BDS, bds.org.uk/information-advice/about-deer/deer-species/roe-deer/
[2]: New England History Society,  newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/to-discover-the-real-bambi-walt-disney-goes-to-maine/