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Roe deer

Capreolus capreolus

A small, graceful native deer: fox-red in summer, grey-brown in winter, with a pale patch on its rump.

Size
About 70cm tall at the shoulder
Look for it
All year round
Where
Woods and the edges of fields, mostly at dawn and dusk

My spotter's list

Steps quietly after you, grazing and looking up with its ears turning. Move your pointer and see.

When to look

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Roe deer

Good to know

Six things about the roe deer

Antlers

New antlers every year

Only the males, called bucks, have antlers. They are short, with three points, and are shed and regrown every year.

Fawns

Spotted fawns

Fawns are born in May or June with white spots. They lie hidden in long grass while their mother feeds nearby.

Rump

A white warning

When it's alarmed, a roe deer fluffs up the pale hair on its rump as a warning to other deer.

Bark

Barking deer

A startled roe deer makes a short, gruff bark, a lot like a dog.

Native

A true native

Roe deer and red deer are the only two deer that are truly native to Britain.

Coat

Two coats

Its summer coat is bright fox-red. In autumn it grows a thicker grey-brown coat for winter.

The real thing

Photos of the roe deer

Roe deer, photo 1
Photo: Kristian Pikner, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Roe deer, photo 2
Photo: Charles J. Sharp, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Roe deer, photo 3
Photo: Charles J. Sharp, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Out and about

How to spot one

Walk quietly along a woodland edge at dawn or dusk and scan the field margins. Look for the pale rump, and for small two-toed prints in mud.

Lend a hand

How to help

Keep dogs on leads in woods in May and June, and never touch a fawn lying alone: its mother is close by and will return.

Keep going

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