Spotlight on: roe deer

Many of you will be familiar with the elegant roe deer as the original Bambi, before Walt Disney turned him into a white-tailed deer for his American audience. So we continue our spotlight of Make Your Nature Count creatures with a look at the roe deer:

Despite being native to the UK, the roe deer became extinct in England during the 18th century, but clung on in wooded parts of the Scottish highlands. It’s now thought that there are around 500,000 roe deer in the UK, and many of the English deer are the ancestors of reintroductions.

How do I know I’ve seen a roe?

One of the easiest ways to tell roes from other deer is the conspicuous white patch on their rump. With a keen sense of smell and good vision, they’re much more likely to have seen you before you see them! Meaning the white rump is often spied as they dash away across an open field.

Roes are small-medium sized deer; bigger than both muntjacs and fallow deer, but smaller than red deer.

In my garden, really?

Active in twilight, they do mainly live in wooded areas, but will come into gardens in search of food. However, you will probably have to be living in a rural area or have your garden back onto woodland and fields to get one of these elusive creatures visiting you. But it can happen! So please let us know if you do.

Only male roe deer have small antlers, with a maximum of three points and, unlike other deer, they don’t live in herds. You are much more likely to encounter a single deer or a mother with her offspring, just like in the picture above.

Make Your Nature Count

I’m not lucky enough to have roe deer visiting my garden, but are you? The roe deer is just one of the species we’re asking you to look out for in your gardens during Make Your Nature Count. It takes just one hour between now and 10 June. Get the whole family involved and help us create a snapshot of the UK’s summer wildlife.

Ps. Let us know if you have any roe deer stories by posting a comment below.