Roe Deer Capreolus capreolus
Cervidae family
Order Artiodactyla
Female - small Chevrette - Fawn from 0 to 6 months. Chevrillard from 6 months to 1 year
Length from 92 to 134 cm including 2 to 4 cm of tail
Height 55 to 80 cm
Weight 15 to 35 kg
Reddish brown to blackish coat (varies by season and region)
Longevity 10 to 12 years maximum (often much less)
Biology
Description
The Roe Deer is a small animal. It has a roze (area of white hairs in winter, yellowish in summer) on the buttocks. Its muzzle is black with the edges of the lips marked in white. Sometimes there is a white patch on the front of the neck called a towel. The tail of the Roe Deer is barely visible. In winter, the doe (female) has on the top of the hind legs a tuft of white hairs that simulate a tail. The coat is unspotted, reddish-brown in summer, gray-brown in winter.
The Roe Deer has large ears that allow it to pick up sounds from a great distance. His strong sense of smell compensates for his poor sight which is based on movement.
Only the male, called a brocade, carries antlers. The antlers sit on two processes of the frontal bone: the pivots. The base is called the grindstone, and the stave, which is above, carries the antlers which end in points. The whole is called the trophy. The woods, rough at the base (pearls) have a maximum of 3 antlers each. The growth takes place in winter and generally lasts 2 to 3 months (especially from mid-January to mid-February).
The antlers are then covered with a skin called velvet, which the deer shed from March to June. The fall of the woods takes place in October - November, rarely after. This phenomenon is linked to the testicular functioning of the animal. The antlers are up to 25 cm long. The adults molt before the young.
Measurements
The length of the head and the body is 92 to 134 cm. The tail is almost nonexistent varies from 2 to 4 cm, visible when it is raised at the time of defecation. The height of the male is 55 to 80 cm, that of the female 55 to 70 cm. Males are slightly larger than females in flourishing populations, while there is no difference in unfavorable conditions. The weight is 15 to 34 kg (newborn 1.3 to 2.3 kg). The Roe Deer has 32 teeth.
Presence indices
It is extremely easy to detect the presence of a deer in a territory. Here are the main clues.
The footprints: The hooves are narrow and elongated and measure approximately 4.5 x 3 cm, frequently visible on soft ground.
Deer Footprint
Deer footprint - Meurthe et Moselle
The Leaves: The deer droppings are easy to recognize. They are found in the form of a small pile called carpet They are black and shiny, pointed at one end, often clumped together in summer. The length varies from 10 to 14 mm, the width from 7 to 10 mm.
The smears: These are the marks that the deer (or the stag) makes on the trunks by rubbing its antlers. They start about 10 cm from the ground and end no more than 60 cm. The roe deer barks young trees to get rid of its velvet (see the paragraph on antlers) or to relieve nervous tension during the rutting season.
The bunks: These are the places that the Roe Deer chooses to rest. They are almost always placed at the foot of a shrub. The Roe Deer scratches the ground with its paws to free the leaves. They are often oval in shape about 50 to 60 cm long and 25 to 30 wide. Sometimes it is even possible to know in what position the deer has laid down with the hoof marks.
The witches' rings: these are certainly the most difficult to find signs of presence, but also the most significant. These are circles that the Deer makes when it pursues the Chevrette at the time of rut. They both turn in circles, leaving their tracks on the ground.
Habitat
The Brocard is sedentary over a variable area depending on the environment and the density of the population. It does not need more than 5 to 7 ha. He defends a territory from February to September. Non-territorial males have a larger living space, around 15 ha. The Chevrette has a larger area than that of the brocade and less stable. The density is very variable from one zone to another depending on the terrain, the climate, the food supply, the disturbance. It is estimated from 2 to 20 (or 30) per 100 ha. Exceptionally 60 to 70. After their first winter, the young males are hunted by the brocades which defend a territory. Young females disperse or remain near or within their mother's domain. The roe deer is present throughout Lorraine (as in all of Europe, even beyond the Arctic Circle). Rather than forest animals, it adapts however to different environments and can sometimes be found in parks and even near villages. Its favorite sectors are still the edges, the meadows (coppice under high forest, coppice). It shelters easily in brambles, brushes, thickets of young conifers. It is found in the Vosges to the top. There are also so-called lowland deer that spend most of their time on large agricultural expanses.
Diet
The Roe Deer feed mainly on the shoots and leaves of trees, brambles, raspberries, ivy, hazelnut, secondarily on herbaceous plants. It also consumes mushrooms, acorns, beechnuts and cultivated plants in a proportion of 3 to 4 kg per day. The Roe Deer chooses its food with care and takes the most nutritious parts. The feeding and rumination cycle is one hour in summer and two hours in winter because at this season, the proportion of brambles is higher and the morphology of its digestive tract changes.
Roe deer
Roe deer at grazing - GL - Meurthe et Moselle
Reproduction
The Roe Deer reaches sexual maturity between 14 months and 2 years. It is the only Artiodactyl in which there is delayed implantation of the embryo (delayed ovo-implantation). Males are polygynous. The rut takes place in July-August. There may be a secondary rut in October-December (a small number of females impregnated during this period and in this case the gestation is direct). The delayed implantation period lasts approximately 150 days (until December) and the actual gestation approximately 144 days. There is only one annual litter which includes twins in 75% of cases, 1 fawn in 20% of cases, and 3 fawns in 5% of cases. The number of young per litter depends a lot on the environment. The Chevrette has 4 pacifiers. The fawn (so-called up to 6 months) is blackish-brown with rows of white spots on the back and sides. He has a black mustache on his upper lip. The white spots fade at 6 weeks and disappear by October at the latest. Weaning takes place after 8 to 12 weeks, although the doe can nurse until winter if conditions are right. The young are breastfed 6 to 10 times a day for a few minutes. Older they are breastfed 2-3 times a day, just a few seconds. They stay with their mother until the next calving and are then driven away. They are called chevrillards between 6 months and a year.
reproduction_chevreuil.jpg (32464 bytes)
Roe deer reproductive cycle
Longevity
In freedom, the Roe Deer can live 7 to 8 years and the Roe Deer a little longer. The age rarely exceeds 15 years (20 years exceptional). Age can be estimated by examining the degree of tooth wear and other laboratory methods (lens weight, cutting teeth, ossification of the nasal septum). Food influences the age pyramid. In populations
Sociability
The social unit of roe deer is formed by a roe deer and young of the year (a brocade can eventually join this small family in the fall). In winter, many of these family groups can join together. Males have distinct territories but which can overlap more or less. It is the same for the surfaces occupied by the females. Outside of the heat, the brocades are solitary. Roe deer need high-quality food and shelter. The domineering behavior of males changes according to the presence or absence of their antlers and decreases at a distance from the summer territory. At the end of winter, young males from the previous year may occupy a higher position than the highest female in the hierarchy.
The alarm call of both sexes bears a resemblance to a particularly loud bark, often repeated by the brocade. During the rutting season, the female gives a whistle, the male a squealing cry. The male rubs his frontal and jugal glands on branches, bushes, and the secretion of the interdigital glands marks every step. The smells provide information on the sex, age of the individual, and hierarchical position. The secretion of the preorbital (drip) and preputial glands is also used.
Behavior
Deer are both fearful and curious. It is best encountered at sunrise and sunset, most often on the edge of the forest. However, it is not uncommon to see it in the middle of the day along the motorway or in the middle of a field. Its behavior sometimes changes at certain times of the year, especially during the rut and during the hunting season.
When born, fawns are spotted and have no body odor. This particularity is no accident. The fawn attracts a number of predators mainly the Fox and the Lynx. When the doe perceives danger, it hits the ground with its hoof. This characteristic noise triggers a natural reflex in the manner which tells it to lie down without moving. In addition, the fawn's coat merges perfectly with the reflection of the sun which passes through the leaves, making it difficult to locate in the undergrowth. But nature did not stop at this. Predators, if they are deceived by sight and hearing, are rarely deceived by smell. This is the reason why the little one does not emit body odor during the first weeks of his life.
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