Biology of the deer. Determining the sex and age of roe deer How to determine the age of Siberian roe deer

At the sight of these animals, there is no doubt - in front of you is a deer ... but why so small? Its weight does not exceed 60 kg, and the height at the withers barely reaches 70-80 cm!

Everything is simple, because this is not a simple deer - it is Roe- a small and graceful representative of the deer family.

What does a deer look like

The small body of the Roe deer is dressed in a brown-orange skin and rests on short slender legs with sharp little hooves.

The Roe deer has a tail, but it is so small that no one has ever seen it - it is completely hidden under thick fur, but under the tail there is a large bright white spot, which is necessary for the Roe deer to divert the attention of predators.

The head of males is decorated with a pair of small horns with several branches and tubercles, females are polled, that is, they do not have horns. In autumn, males shed their horns and it becomes more difficult to distinguish them from females.

Where does the deer live

Roe deer widely distributed throughout the northern hemisphere, they can be found in North America, Europe, Asia Minor, Russia.

Roe deer are inhabitants of the forest-steppe zone: they feel great in meadows among tall grass with rare bushes, behind which you can hide. They can also be found in forest clearings, and in light forests.

Roe deer spend the daytime in the shelter, and at dusk they come out to nibble grass and stretch their legs. They prefer succulent grasses, berries and young shoots of trees, although they can also eat less tasty food, especially in the cold season, when food shortages make them not disdain tree bark and pine needles.

What do deer eat

Roe deer eat various herbs, as well as acorns, which are found on the edges. From mushrooms, milk mushrooms and honey mushrooms are more loved, and from berries - lingonberries, blueberries and strawberries. Also, they will not give up mosses and tree growth.

Leaves, twigs and buds of trees and shrubs are eaten, but extremely rarely, and only willow, birch, oak, maple, hazel and raspberry. When winter comes, deer are forced to eat pine needles pines and they can even dig snow with their hooves, finding dry leaves, ivy, horsetail and acorns under it.

Roe deer nocturnal animals - feed at night and at dawn.

Roe deer breeding

Roe deer, unlike other deer, prefer solitude and form small groups only when necessary.
As a rule, in the summer, family groups are formed of a mother and two deer, males and childless females keep apart. Winter colds force Roe deer to stray into small herds - it is easier to survive frost and hunger.

The mating season falls on the summer months and the beginning of autumn. Males make loud sounds that attract females, tear and scatter the ground and foliage with their horns, fight among themselves, finding out who is stronger. The strongest male will get the right to become a family man and create his grief.

The gestation period for Roe deer is from 5 to 10 months, it all depends on when the mating took place.
If mating took place in the fall, then after 5 months, in the spring, a pair of small deer will be born.

But if the female became pregnant in the summer, and not in the fall, then the pregnancy will have a latent period - a kind of "pause" when the embryo temporarily stops developing - and then the pregnancy will last as long as 10 months until the next summer.
Roe deer are the only species of deer that have a latent period of pregnancy, it is necessary so that babies cannot be born in winter, when lack of food and cold doom them to a quick death.

On average, two deer are born to Roe deer, babies are born in April-July. They have a motley spotted skin and almost immediately know how to walk and even run, but they are still too weak and can easily fall into the clutches of predators, so they spend the first days of their lives in shelter, drink mother's milk, grow and gain strength.
All summer the kids spend next to their mother, the kids will become adults next year, at the age of 14-16 months.
The average lifespan of Roe deer is 10 years, sometimes living up to 15.

Roe Deer Enemies

Roe deer are well adapted to life in forest-steppe zone- and this is not casual, because she has many enemies: lynxes and wolves able to catch adult roe deer, birds of prey, foxes and wild dogs prefer to prey on helpless deer.

The short stature of the roe deer allows it to be invisible among low bushes, the brownish skin of an adult roe deer is almost invisible against the background of tall grass and tree trunks, and the motley skin of deer merges with the forest litter and last year's foliage.

Strong legs allow the roe deer to reach speeds of up to 60 km / h - at such a speed the roe deer will not be able to run for a long time, but even a small jerk is enough to get away from the pursuit of a lynx or wolf.

But the main enemy of roe deer is man: the reduction of habitats leads to the fact that roe deer often become victims of accidents and die under the wheels of cars, and beautiful horns and tasty meat make them a favorite target for hunters.

The horns of young Roe deer look like pipes.

Roe deer they simply swim wonderfully and swim the Yenisei and Amur rivers without much difficulty during emigration.

Seeing the danger, the animal begins to stomp loudly, thereby warning its relatives about the danger.

Fleeing from predators, Roe deer can accelerate up to 60 km/h- more than the speed of a lynx or a wolf, but she will not be able to run for long.

Roe deer female easily possible tame- she is calm, not obstinate and not at all aggressive, but with a male everything is much harder - it is almost impossible to tame him.

Males can have a harem - they live with two or three females.

Some females do not take part in the summer rut, but breed in December. But what is interesting: they bring babies, like the rest of the Roe deer, since during pregnancy the embryos do not go through a latent period.

Roe(Latin Capreolus) - an animal of the deer family, a class of mammals, a detachment of artiodactyls. Other names are roe, wild goat. This is a small graceful deer. It has a short body with a thinner and lower front compared to the back.

The average weight of a male is from 22 to 32 kg, body length is from 108 to 125 cm, height at the withers is from 65 to 80 cm. The female is slightly smaller, but basically does not differ much from the male. Appearance typical for deer.

The head is short, tapering from the ears to the nose; ears are oblong and pointed at the end; eyes are different large sizes and bulge; pupils squint a little; long neck; the legs are slender, the hind legs are slightly longer than the front ones; small hooves; tail is tiny. You can see clearly at roe deer photo.

In males roe deer horns grow small branched, which grow almost vertically. Their length is from 15 to 30 cm and the span is from 10 to 15 cm. They have three branches, of which the middle one is tilted forward. In young roe deer, horns begin to grow at the 4th month of life, and fully develop at the 3rd year of life. The females do not grow horns.

All adults have a coat of a uniform color, but it changes depending on the time of the year: in warm time- dark red, in the cold - grayish-brown. The tail area is adorned with a small spot of white.

Newborn cubs have spotted fur. This helps them to hide among the green forest vegetation. After two or three months, the color gradually becomes the same as in adults and the spots gradually disappear.

There are 5 types of roe deer. The European species has the smallest dimensions (length 1 - 1.35 m, weight 20 - 35 kg, height 0.75 - 0.9 m), Asian - medium in size, Siberian - the largest (length on average 1.5 m, weight over 50 kg).

Roe deer habitat

Basic roe deer habitat located in Europe. Habitat limits stretch from the middle of Scandinavia to Gulf of Finland. Also, this animal can be found in the countries of Asia Minor, in Iran, Iraq, in the Caucasus, on the Crimean peninsula. The boundaries of the habitat also pass through Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Korea, Tibet and some other countries.

Most often, forest-steppe is chosen for living, especially places that are located near river valleys. Also, they can live both in coniferous (but in the presence of deciduous undergrowth) and in deciduous forests. Some species feel great in the Central Asian mountains. In those zones where the steppe is located, there are no semi-deserts or deserts.

Prefer to lead a sedentary lifestyle all year round. Individuals stray into small groups and are located in a certain territory. Even in especially cold periods, the herd does not develop an area of more than 2 hectares. In autumn and spring, they migrate at a distance of up to 20 km.

In autumn, they prefer to go to those areas where there is less snow and there is more food. With spring warming, they move to summer pastures. In the hot summer season, they go to graze in the cool time of the day, and when the heat is in full swing, they lie in the grass or bushes.

In summer, each individual keeps a little apart from the others, protecting its own territory. When the mating season ends, they rally into heterogeneous herds, the number of which can vary from 30 to 100 individuals. Such a group lives on an area of about 1000 hectares.

On average, the number of individuals for a certain area increases in the direction from north to south: in the taiga zone, 1 individual per 1000 ha falls, in mixed and deciduous forests from 30 to 60, in the forest-steppe - from 50 to 120 animals.

Reproduction and life expectancy of roe deer

The roe deer rut period is in the summer, the total duration is about three months (from June to August, and sometimes even to September). For example, in a European species, the beginning of the rut occurs in June, while in Siberian roe deer is the middle of August.

The beginning of the rut varies depending on the altitude of the herd. And also, the farther from east to west and from north to south, the earlier everything starts according to the date. For example, consider the rutting time of the Austrian species: in the lowlands - 20.07 - 07.08, in the hills - 25.06 - 15.08, in the mountains - 03.08 - 20.08. In a very small number of females, estrus begins in late autumn (September–December).

During this period, the animals are less cautious, and the males almost stop feeding and intensively chase the females. Their attitude towards females is quite aggressive - they can hit with horns. At first, the run takes place in a circle of large diameter, the longer - the smaller the diameter of the circle.

And in the end, the pursuit takes place near a tree, a bush or a pit, and the trajectory of movement is more like a figure eight or a circle from 1.5 to 6 meters in diameter. Then the female stops running, the male makes a certain number of cages. Then the animals rest.

In nature, in the wild, more often one male chases one female, less often - large quantity. And vice versa - one male drives one female, less often - more. Although for one racing period it can fertilize up to six females. Roe deer do not create long-term pairs.

These animals are the only ungulates that have a latent (hidden) period of pregnancy - a temporary delay in the development of a fertilized egg. Those roe deer that become pregnant in late autumn do not have a latent period. During pregnancy, animals behave much more carefully and more carefully.

The gestation period lasts 6 - 10 months, but on average - 40 weeks. In goats in Europe, the Crimea and the Caucasus, cubs will be born in late spring - early summer. One or two kids are born at a time, sometimes three or four.

The period of birth shifts to the latest numbers from south to north and from west to east. Before calving (approximately 1 month), the roe deer takes possession of a certain area, where it plans to give birth, and drives away other individuals.

Most often, the preference is for places on the forest edges, in thickets of bushes or grasses, where you can hide well and have plenty of food. Most often, calving occurs during the daytime and at the same place year after year.

Roe deer, born, are in the grass for about a week. Since they are still helpless, the mother does not go far. After a week, the cubs begin to follow their mother, and after two, they no longer leave her.

They suck milk until the age of three months, although they begin to eat grass from the first month. At the end of the rut (during his time, keep at some distance so that the aggressive male does not injure or kill), they follow their mother until spring.

Roe deer nutrition

In the period of time when there is no snow cover, the main ingredient in the diet of roe deer are herbaceous plants. With the onset of cold weather and snowfall, shoots of bushes are added, less often - shoots of pine or spruce.

They love berries (mountain ash, viburnum, bird cherry, blueberries, blueberries, cranberries and many others), do not neglect mushrooms. They can pick up apples, if any, or eat mountain ash.

In the hot months, they need to enrich the diet with minerals. Therefore, they go to salt licks created both naturally and artificially. Basically, solonetsing is carried out several times a year: April-May, July, before and after the rut, September-October.

The greatest difficulties are experienced roe deer in winter especially in the second half. IN given time they eat the grass that is visible on top of the snow cover, they can tear up the snow and eat low-growing grasses.

Or they are looking for places well blown by the wind (near rocks and stones). If the layer of snow is very thick and difficult to rake, they look for branches of shrubs and undergrowth of deciduous trees (for example, aspen, birch).

Roe deer hunting

The roe deer is classified as a hunting species in southern regions due to high reproducibility. Also, roe deer meat considered very useful and nutritious. In many Eastern countries roe deer dishes are a common delicacy.

Those who do not hunt can buy roe deer meat. It is for sale and on the Internet. For those who are interested how to cook deer, there are many recipes for cooking roe deer that can be found on the Internet.

There are several types deer hunting:

with dogs
surge
trailing
roundup.

Often used for hunting roe deer decoy, which is of two types. Some hunters hunt with headlight by installing a special device on the car, called a headlight lamp.

Since roe deer are more active at night, roe deer hunting is carried out at night. A roe deer hunting license is issued for shooting one individual per season and costs about 400 rubles.

The beginning of an individual hunting for a male roe deer in Ukraine can be safely compared with the celebration of the New Year: it is she who opens the next hunting season. And if for experienced hunters this is a reason to take up arms after a few tedious months of calm, then for beginners it is a chance to try yourself as an animal hunter and take the first steps in solving riddles with many unknowns. This article is an attempt to summarize the answer to the question of where to look and how to get a male roe deer. Text and photo: Anatoly Treasurer

AND individual hunting for a male European roe deer, at first glance, is unpretentious. It would seem that it could be simpler: I arrived at the land, paid for the license and went to look for the animal. Signs are known from pictures and descriptions in hunting magazines: length - about a meter, height - about 80 cm, weight - about 25 kg. It goes without saying that the animal must have horns, because in the European roe deer only males wear horns.
In fact, everything is so: if you don’t go into too much detail, then all this hunting can be reduced to a repeated visit to “roe deer places”.
Let's leave without consideration for now the whole variety of ways of catching roe deer and, for a start, let's figure it out: where are these places?
The roe deer is a territorial animal: seeing it in certain place, you can safely count on a second meeting in the same place, unless, of course, other hunters “eat” it before you.
As a rule, these artiodactyls choose rarefied for life, mixed forests with dense undergrowth and the presence of clearings or clearings with forest forbs. They can also settle in thickets of hazel mixed with shrubs, or on the outskirts deciduous forests near the fields. If there are no large forests in this area, then roe deer can live in meadows, among which there are thickets of bushes, in gardens, in sunflower or corn fields. Animals try to avoid coniferous and continuous deciduous forests. They also do not like birch groves too much.

Daily Activity

The most ideal time to search for roe deer is morning (from dawn) and evening (until dark). On cool days, the activity of animals is higher, on sunny and hot days it is significantly reduced. So, if on a cloudy day I personally hunt from dawn until about 10:00, and in the evening I go hunting after 16:00, then on a hot day at 8:00 or 8:30 I already finish hunting and wait for the evening, starting to hunt not earlier than 19:00.
Also on daily activity anxiety factor. If roe deer are not disturbed, then they are active during the day almost all the time, except for the period from 11:00 to 15:00. If the disturbance factor is very high, then roe deer come out to feed only at dawn and at night. They settle for a long time in the bushes, thickets or undergrowth at the edge of the forest, waiting for the onset of dusk.
If you are hunting in such a place, and the weather is damp on the day of the hunt, then you can slowly and carefully walk along the edge of the forest through the undergrowth. Often in such conditions it is possible to get a cautious male roe deer with very worthy trophy qualities. On a dry day, when everything treacherously cracks underfoot, this trick, of course, will not work - and hunting in such a place, most likely, will only turn out to be an ambush.

Where and how to look

The rangefinder allows you to determine the correct distance and make an accurate shot.

In spring, the roe deer has a light or dark red color, and in winter it is gray; but at the beginning of May, when the hunting season opens, the female still has a spring molt, which lasts until the end of May. Very often you can find an animal with gray hair on the sides and already red head, neck and legs. This must be taken into account when visually searching for roe deer on the ground.

The most effective way in terms of searching at the beginning of the season will be bypassing glades and clearings, which roe deer use as feeding places in early May. It is on them, first of all, that fresh grass, shoots and leaves appear on the bush. Tired of the winter branch diet, mammals rush there to enjoy juicy food. There we look out for them, carefully moving along the forest roads.
The hunter, imagining the silhouette of a roe deer, bypasses glades and clearings, trying to find an analogue of the one he imagines on the ground. I want to say right away that it is often not easy to notice a roe deer on the ground with the naked eye, so it will be right to arm yourself not only with a rifle, but also with binoculars - it is better to have fast aperture so that it works at dusk. You should walk around the area slowly, it is useful to stop often and look at the whole district. When walking, it is extremely important to be as quiet as possible. The first thing we should look for is the ears and head of the animal. Even in a completely immobile roe deer, these parts of the body are almost always in motion. The second important detail: roe deer, unlike deer, must be looked out for against the background of tree trunks, and not in the gaps between them, since it is easier to notice them this way.
Over time, in the glades, the leaves and grass burn out, becoming dry, and in the thickets, where sunlight penetrates less, they only ripen. Therefore, by the end of May, roe deer change their feeding places, moving into the thickets. They now go out to the glades, mainly only in the morning, so that with the first rays of the sun they dry and warm themselves after cool night. They can also come out of the thickets to the glades during the rain - to get rid of the drop that frightens them. This can happen at any time of the day, and the hunter has the right to use this to achieve a result.
... I crept through the thickets of hazel, in which the male roe deer settled down for a day's rest. The first time I noticed him getting up from the prone, but the vegetation prevented him from shooting. The second time he jumped into the dense thickets of elderberry bushes. The male was so careful that he practically excluded visual contact, and I saw him in a matter of seconds. It was already flashing in my thoughts that this time I, most likely, would not get it. Suddenly it began to rain, which soon intensified. Knowing that in the rain, roe deer often come out of the thickets to the clearings, I stopped hiding and with a quiet but quick step went to the clearing, located about two hundred meters to my left. Coming to the edge of the clearing, I stood with my back to a large pine tree. According to my assumptions, the male roe deer, who was on my right, should have entered the clearing along a course parallel to me. Before I had time to decide how it would be more convenient to shoot him - standing or kneeling - a male appeared in the clearing, exactly in the place where I expected him. To get it was only a matter of an accurate shot ...
By the end of May, the roe deer change their feeding places and the frequency of their exits from the thickets - accordingly, we also change the style of hunting. Now, if we make rounds, it is only early in the morning; it would be much smarter to take a position near some promising clearing and hunt from an ambush.

Roe deer like to hide in such ravines during the day

On fire lanes, you can move through the forest much quieter

The roe deer themselves will tell us which felling will be promising. If in May we were closely examining the thickets, trying to see the animals, now we are actively looking at our feet. Near puddles in field or forest roads, on sand, on firebreaks - everywhere we pay attention to trace activity. Since we are only interested in the male, it will be useful to be able to distinguish the footprint of a male roe deer from a female. This is not difficult: the male's footprint is always rounded, while in females it is more elongated and sharp.

In addition to trace activity, roe deer roll calls will also help us a lot in determining a promising place for an ambush. As early as March-April, males choose individual territories for themselves and protect them from the encroachments of rivals, arranging a kind of roll call every evening, “barking” from their territories. By this bark, we, standing in the forest in the evening, can approximately count the number of males in the area and determine their habitats. Subsequently, superimposing the marked places on the map of the area, one can almost accurately determine clearings or clearings that are promising for an ambush. At first, in order to verify the correctness of my assumptions, I conducted reconnaissance of such glades and the undergrowth around them in search of places for roe deer beds and bark peeled off by horns on tree branches - such traces are left by a male roe deer, cleaning his horns and marking his territory.
As for the roe deer barking itself, the evening “roll call” has nothing to do with the barking of a frightened roe deer. The barking of a frightened roe deer is a continuous five or six "barks" in a row. Roll call barks are measured single “barks” with intervals of about a minute or two between them. Only males participate in evening roll calls.
It often happens that at the beginning of the season there is an abundance of roe deer in the forest, and with the beginning of June, the animals suddenly disappear somewhere unexpectedly. This often happens when there are a lot of midges in the forest. Fleeing from it, the roe deer simply leaves the forest and settles nearby - in the floodplains, swamps, meadows or in the field, where the places are much better blown by the wind, and therefore the midges turn out to be less than in the forest. Therefore, if you do not find the animal in the forest, then you can try to look for it near the forests.

Wait, who's coming?

Often, watching a male roe deer even through binoculars, you do not always see what kind of antlers he has. In this case, it is useful to be able to visually determine the approximate age of the animal in order to understand whether it is worth paying closer attention to it and trying to get it. The main thing here is to remember that an animal under the age of two years, which, as a rule, still does not represent any trophy value, holds its neck almost vertically when walking. The most interesting "trophy" males, aged from two to seven years, keep their necks at an angle of about forty-five degrees when walking. In animals older than seven years, the neck when walking is almost parallel to the ground.

Equipment

Making detours or choosing places for an ambush, we must definitely focus on the wind. To determine its direction, you can use talcum powder from a bottle or a rubber pear, or a plant like a dandelion or a biennial aspen. It is only necessary that your own smell does not spread in the direction from which you are waiting for the beast. Therefore, the means of determining the direction of the wind must be taken care of in advance. Considering that hunting for male roe deer takes place at a time when there is a lot of midges, it would be useful to think over in advance how to protect yourself from it: ideally, this is an anti-mosquito suit. If not, then gloves and a net on the head will help out. Aerosol repellents should not be used - their smell is distinguishable even for a weak human sense of smell at a distance of up to a kilometer.
We have already talked about binoculars. In addition to it, you may need a GPS, glasses to protect your eyes from branches and the sun, a small backpack with a supply of water and matches, a rope 10-15 meters long, a knife and a small first aid kit. For dry days and evening hunting, I use light Chiruca Sabana boots, over which I put protective gaiters - to protect myself from debris and ticks. For morning hunts with heavy dew and rainy days, I prefer rubber boots. As for clothes, this is again a matter of taste and possibilities. Of course, it is better to leave a dress-out suit at home, even if hunting is a holiday for you. A comfortable modern hunting suit with 3D camouflage colors will help you to simply disappear into the terrain - which, in fact, is what you need for animal hunting.
As for weapons, I’ll say very briefly: ideally, a carbine is suitable for such hunts, but in general, you can get a male roe deer with the help of smoothbore weapons. It is much more important to disguise the weapon with a camouflage cover or tape, so as not to impersonate glare from metal surfaces during sudden movements - which, by the way, should also be avoided.
Well, actually, if we talk about shooting, then it is important to be cold-blooded and take a responsible attitude to the shot. With its small size, the male roe deer often turns out to be very strong on the wound - and even if it hits the heart, it can run 150-200 m and hide under some bush, so finding it later without a dog is very problematic. Therefore, it is necessary to shoot strictly in place - in the area of \u200b\u200bthe shoulder blade or neck. If the roe deer does not see you and is on the move, you should not shoot it on the go; these animals are very curious, and if you whistle lightly or break a twig, it will immediately stop, giving you the opportunity to aim and shoot at a stationary target. In this simple way of stopping roe deer for a shot, there is only one nuance - you can “make noise” only if the roe deer is in a relatively clean place, and there are no bushes or trees between you that block the view. If you do this, for example, when a roe deer is near a bush, it will definitely stop behind it.

In search of a trophy male

One of the June days

Having overcome the city midday traffic jams and breaking away from the bustle of the city, after a few hours I was standing on top of a large hill and inspecting the area through binoculars.
The hands of the clock showed six in the evening, but the day was hot, and I did not expect the beast to leave until seven or even half past seven.
I planned the bypass route for myself on the way to the lands. The area where I was going to hunt that day was overgrown ravines separating fields sown with soy and clover. Actually, roe deer spent the whole day in them, going out to feed on the fields in the morning and evening. Since it had not rained for a long time and everything crackled treacherously underfoot, my the only way To conduct a dynamic hunt was bypassing the ravines - in some places along the edge of the ravine and the field, and in some places along the field roads - and shooting roe deer emerging from the vegetation. Having determined the direction of the wind, I started hunting. I noticed the first male at about seven in the evening. He was standing in a field only five meters from the undergrowth from which he emerged. This confirmed my assumptions that the roe deer were just beginning to feed. Having got closer, I examined a young animal of the second year of life through binoculars and left it to graze quietly. Having walked about a kilometer, on the edge of a field and an overgrown ravine, I came across another male. This one was only 20 meters from me and, standing sideways to me, calmly chewed grass. “Everything is somehow too simple,” I thought, but I could not let go of this either - with his barking, he would notify the entire district of the danger, and I would have to urgently change the place, leaving for several kilometers. And I had absolutely no time left for this, and I decided to get this male, and then continue the hunt in search of another one. Without making any sudden movements, I slowly raised my carbine, and a shot broke the silence. Taking out a rope from his backpack, he made a cut in the hind leg of the male near the tendon with a knife and hung the animal on the nearest tree. If I have to leave my prey in search of a new one, I always hang it high enough off the ground to keep it out of the way of stray dogs and foxes who can find it by the smell of blood.

Continuing the hunt, I met feeding females a couple of times. Around nine in the evening, moving along the forest belt, I came across a hole in which several young fox cubs were fooling around, and stopped to watch their fuss. Somewhere there was a barking of a roe deer - this was the beginning of the evening roll call.

Another responded already closer to me, three hundred meters away. The one that barked far first barked again. And then, quite unexpectedly, a "bow" was heard right next to me - only forty meters away. After a couple of minutes, a handsome male came out of the forest belt. And a minute later I was standing over him and looking at the second trophy of today's hunt.

Aug 21, 2015 O&O

The animal has a relatively short body, and the back of the artiodactyl is slightly higher and thicker than the front. The body weight of an adult male roe deer is 22-32 kg, with a body length of 108-126 cm and an average height at the withers - no more than 66-81 cm. The female of the European roe deer is slightly smaller than the male, but the signs of sexual dimorphism are rather weakly expressed. The largest individuals are found in the northern and eastern parts of the range.

Appearance

The roe deer has a short and wedge-shaped nose narrowed towards the nose. head, which is relatively high and wide in the eye area.

cranial part with an expansion in the eye area, with a wide and shortened front part. Long and oval ears have a well-marked point.

Eyes large, convex, having oblique pupils. The neck of the animal is long and relatively thick.

Legs thin and long, with narrow and relatively short hooves.

tail section rudimentary, completely hidden under the hairs of the "mirror".

In the spring-summer period, the sweat and sebaceous glands of the males greatly increase, and through the secret, the males mark the territory. The most developed sense organs in roe deer are hearing and smell.

This is interesting! The horns of males are relatively small, with a less or more vertical set and a lyre-shaped curvature, close together at the base.

Supraorbital offshoot no, and the main horny trunk is characterized by a backward curvature.

Horns rounded section, having a large number of tubercles - "pearls" and a large rosette. In some individuals, an anomaly in the development of horns is noted. Roe deer calves develop antlers from the age of four months. Full development the antlers reach the age of three, and they are shed in October-December. European roe deer females are usually hornless, but there are individuals with ugly horns.

Color adults are monochromatic and completely devoid of sexual dimorphism. In winter, the animal has a gray or grayish-brown body, turning into a brownish-brown color in the posterior region of the back and at the level of the sacrum.

The caudal "mirror" or caudal disk is characterized by a white or light reddish color. With the onset of summer, the body and neck acquire a uniform red coloration, and the belly has a whitish-red color. In general, the summer color is more uniform than the winter "outfit". The existing population of melanistic roe deer inhabits the low-lying and swampy regions of Germany, and is distinguished by its black, shiny summer coat and dull black winter fur with a lead-gray belly coloration.

History and distribution of roe deer

The roots of the genus Capreolus Gray lead to the Miocene muntjacs (subfamily Cervulinae). Already in the Upper Miocene and Lower Pliocene, both in Europe and Asia, there lived a group of forms similar in a number of characters to modern roe deer and united in the genus Procapreolus Schloss. The Middle Pliocene genus Pliocervus Hilzh is even closer to them. The genus Capreolus dates back to the Upper Pliocene or Lower Pleistocene, and the species Capreolus capreolus was established with certainty only at the end of the Ice Age.

In the relatively recent past, the range of the roe deer, at least in temperate latitudes, was continuous. Its northern border is connected with the line of the average maximum snow cover depth of 50 cm. The zone of maximum abundance of this animal covers areas where the snow depth does not exceed 10-20 cm. Due to predatory extermination in the pre-revolutionary years, the area broke up into several parts; only as a result of the measures taken for last years roe deer have again begun to populate areas in which they have been absent for several decades.

Roe deer species

A large number of local forms are described, accepted by different authors either as subspecies or as independent species. At present, the point of view, which considers all local forms of the genus Capreolus as subspecies of one species, is considered more generally accepted.

There is also no consensus on the number of subspecies. Some accept over fifteen subspecies. More correct should be considered the point of view of K. Flerov, who reduces their number to four.

1. European roe deer- C. capreolus capreolus L. The dimensions are relatively small; body length about 125 cm, height at the withers about 80 cm; skull length from 190 to 216 mm; live weight up to 41 kg. The general background of winter coloration is grayish-brown, darker than in other races, especially on the back of the back and on the rump. In the summer coat, the color of the head is gray or brown, sharply different from the color of the back and sides. Bases of hair up to half of length gray-brown or dark brown. Auditory blisters on the skull are small. The horns are thin, usually no longer than 30 cm; the bases are very close together, so that the sockets often touch each other. The trunks of the horns from the bases are directed upwards almost in parallel, sometimes even with an inward inclination. Pearls on them are poorly developed. Distribution: Western Europe (including the British Isles and the Scandinavian Peninsula), the European part to the Volga and the Caucasus, Crimea, Transcaucasia, Asia Minor, Palestine, Iran.

2. Siberian roe deer - C. capreolus pygargus Pallas. The sizes are large; body length about 140 cm, height at the withers up to 90 cm or more; skull length 215-250 mm; live weight up to 65 kg. The coloration is gray in winter, brownish on the back with an admixture of reddish tones. In summer coloring, the head is monochromatic with the back and sides. The hair on the whole body, except for the ridge, has white bases. The blisters on the skull are large and swollen. Horns up to 40 cm long or more, often have 4 or more processes, widely spaced at the bases; the distance between the rims is almost equal to the diameter of the horn, or even more. The trunks of the horns already from the base are directed to the sides and up. Pearls on them are strongly developed and sometimes take the form of short processes. Spreading: eastern regions the European part of the USSR beyond the Volga, the Caucasus, middle Asia, Urals, Siberia up to Transbaikalia and Yakutia inclusive, western China (Xinjiang), northern and northwestern Mongolia.

3. Manchurian roe deer- C. capreolus bedfordi Thomas. The sizes are large, but somewhat smaller than the previous form; skull length 211-215 mm. Winter color is grayish-red, a mirror with a slight reddish tinge. The head is more rufous and brown than the whole body. Summer color is intensely red, sometimes turning brown on the upper side of the body. The proportions of the skull, as in S. s. pygargus. Distribution: Khabarovsk and Primorsky Territories, northern and northeastern China, Korea.

4. Sichuan roe deer- C. capreolus melanotis Miller. Similar to the Siberian and Manchu race, but somewhat smaller; the greatest length of the skull is from 207 to 223 mm. The coloration in winter fur is brownish or reddish-gray, the head is rusty-brown with a dark forehead. The ears are more brownish than the head. Summer fur is red. Auditory vesicles are more swollen than even in the two previous subspecies. Distribution: China - eastern Tibet, provinces of Gansu, Sichuan, Nanshan north to Gobi, Kam.

European roe deer diet

The usual diet of the European roe deer includes almost a thousand species of various plants, but the artiodactyl prefers easily digestible and water-rich plant foods. More than half of the diet is represented by dicotyledonous herbaceous plants, as well as tree species. An insignificant part of the diet is made up of mosses and lichens, as well as club mosses, mushrooms and ferns. Roe deer most readily eat greens and branches:

aspens;
poplars;
mountain ash;
lindens;
birches;
ash;
oak and beech;
hornbeam;
honeysuckle;
bird cherry;
buckthorn.

In order to make up for the lack minerals, artiodactyls visit salt licks, and drink water from sources that are rich in mineral salts. Animals get water mainly from plant foods and snow, and the average daily requirement is about one and a half liters. Winter diet less diverse, and most often represented by shoots and buds of trees or shrubs, dry grass and loose leaves. In starvation, mosses and lichens are dug out from under the snow, and tree needles and bark are also eaten.

Roe deer breeding

Roe deer, unlike other deer, prefer solitude and form small groups only when necessary.
As a rule, in the summer, family groups are formed of a mother and two deer, males and childless females keep apart. Winter colds force Roe deer to huddle in small herds - it is easier to survive frost and hunger.

Roe deer enemies

The roe deer is perfectly adapted to life in the forest-steppe zone - and this is no accident, because it has many enemies: lynxes and wolves able to catch adult roe deer, birds of prey, foxes and wild dogs prefer to prey on helpless deer.

This is interesting! In winter, when searching for food, roe deer dig up the snow with their front feet to a depth of half a meter, and all the grasses and plants found are eaten whole.

Roe deer communication

In the communication of roe deer, the role of olfactory, as well as acoustic and visual signals is great. The most important of the senses is the sense of smell - it was calculated that out of 42 elements of social behavior, 26 are caused by olfactory perception, 13 - by acoustic and only 3 - by optical.

The sense of smell plays an important role in marking behavior. From March to September, adult males rub their forehead, cheeks and neck against trees and shrubs, marking them with secretions of skin glands, or dig the ground with their hooves, leaving the smell of the secret of interdigital glands on it. The areas of trunks and branches peeled by horns and "scratches" on the ground also serve as visual marks. Thus, males mark the territory, warning other males that the site is occupied. The intensity of marking depends on the season. In spring, males can apply up to 500-600 odorous marks per day, in summer - 40-150, in early autumn - only 10 marks. Females have no marking behavior.

Important role V social life roe deer play sound signals. There are 5 main types of signals:

a squeak (or whistle) serves either as an inviting sound or as an expression of anxiety; common in mother-calf contact;
hissing expresses strong excitement or aggression;
barking (“byau-byau-byau”) is emitted by disturbed or worried roe deer (usually at dusk or at night, less often during the day; more often in summer than in winter);
squealing (groaning) - a signal emitted by a wounded or caught animal;
sounds of non-vocal origin (stomping feet, noisy jumping) are produced by roe deer when they are worried and feel threatened.

Roe deer cubs emit only a squeak. The European roe deer has no analogues of whining, which is emitted by the males of the Siberian roe deer.

An important role in the communication of roe deer, especially in groups, is played by visual signals. So, for example, if one of the roe deer assumes a pose of anxiety, the other roe deer immediately stop grazing, huddle together and also assume a pose of anxiety. An immobile posture may be replaced by walking in a posture of alarm - slow movement with a vertically extended neck and high legs. The immediate signal for the flight of the whole group is usually the flight of one individual with a loose "mirror".

population status

The European roe deer is currently classified as a taxa of minimal risk according to the WCO classification. Thanks to conservation measures in recent decades, the species has become widespread and common in most of its range; its numbers as a whole show an upward trend. The population of Central Europe, the largest, is now estimated at about 15 million heads, although back in the 1980s. the population for the entire range was estimated at 7-7.5 million individuals. However, a rare and small subspecies of Capreolus capreolus italicus Festa has no more than 10,000 heads; the Syrian population also needs special protection.

In general, due to their high fecundity and ecological plasticity, European roe deer easily restore their numbers and, in the presence of habitable biotopes, can withstand a relatively high anthropogenic pressure. The growth of livestock is also facilitated by actions to cultivate landscapes - cutting down continuous forests and increasing the area of agrocenoses. Compared to other wild ungulates, the European roe deer proved to be the most adapted to human-modified landscapes.

Roe deer hunting

The roe deer is classified as a hunting species in the southern regions due to its high reproducibility. Also, roe deer meat considered very useful and nutritious. In many eastern countries roe deer dishes are a common delicacy.

There are several types deer hunting:

with dogs
surge
trailing
roundup.

Often used for hunting roe deer decoy, which is of two types. Some hunters hunt with headlight by installing a special device on the car, called a headlight lamp.

Since roe deer are more active at night, roe deer hunting is carried out at night. A roe deer hunting license is issued for shooting one individual per season and costs about 400 rubles.

There is an assumption that the name of the animal is associated with the structure of the eyes, the color of which is invariably brown, and the pupils are slanted. Flirtatious eyes have long fluffy upper cilia. Disproportionately small tear pits. They are expressed by shallow 6 mm triangular depressions (without wool).
The roe deer's head is crowned with pointed medium size ears located at a great distance from each other.
There are 5 subspecies of roe deer. Their name consists of two words - 1 roe deer, 2 - the habitat of the animal. The population of European roe deer is large, but it is difficult to meet this cautious animal because of its secrecy and caution.
The cranium, depending on the subspecies, has a different degree of elongation. The length of the neck in some individuals reaches 1/3 of the body. It is quite flexible, which allows the animal to dig out moss from under the snow, peel off the bark of trees and feast on fruits. The diet of the animal differs little from what moose eat. Correction only for the tenderness of the feed.
At the withers, the animal is lower than on the croup. The hind legs of the roe deer are longer than the front ones, which indicates that the animal moves mainly in jumps. IN mountainous areas this is also an advantage, animals with such a leg structure are easier to climb rocky surfaces. A roe deer jump is a mesmerizing sight, its length is 6 meters.
Roe deer always stay close to water. The animal drinks a lot and often, knowing this, predators are waiting for prey. Not always lurking alligator manages to catch prey. Animals hunting in groups are more likely. In the mountains, roe deer settle only in the presence of reservoirs or craters filled with water. As soon as the source of drinking water dries up, the roe deer will leave this place and move to another source. Forest roe deer can be content with drops of dew or rain on the leaves.
Roe deer have 2 hooves on each foot. The first black tapering hoof crowns the slender high leg of a graceful animal, and the second dense growth is located above the lower joint. A sharp hoof makes it possible not only to easily gallop through the desert, marsh bumps, rocks, but also to fend off predators.
Despite the small size and weight, the roe deer has a more dense physique than the deer.. You can't call it slim.
The tail is less than 2 centimeters, white wool under it serves as a danger signal. Raising it, the roe deer gives a sign that is visible to the animals behind it. For the blinding whiteness of the wool, the hunters called this animal's technique a mirror.
By the horns, you can determine the age of the male 1 and 2 years old, in older individuals the horns are almost the same. Roe deer horns are distinguished by wide pipes, relatively thick trunks, dotted with rather noticeable spherical tubercles. A one-year-old male has to be content with thin horns without any branching, with a slight thickening at the base. In a 2-year-old, the branching begins in the middle of the horn. A three-year-old has a main branch bent backwards, after branching on it, a forward bend with tips pointing backwards. Most males will have to wear this decoration for the rest of their lives. There are exceptions with the complication of branching horns.
Roe deer are not herd animals. They often break into small groups of 2-4 individuals. Only in the autumn period you can meet groups of these animals.
The male often lives with only one female. Less common are males, under the care of which there are 2-3 females with cubs. He equally cares about his own and about other people's cubs.
The character of the male changes dramatically in March-April, when the horns shed in October begin to branch again. Until mid-summer, he continues to be a caring father. In the second decade of July, succumbing to strong excitement, he begins to look for rivals for a fight, for most of the year the silent animal announces the nearby territory with a formidable backing sound, pursues females. The period of excitation in the male borders on insanity - he can attack an animal of another species and even a person.
Roe deer bears a cub ≈ 40 weeks. The peculiarity of pregnancy is that the fetus is in one state for a long time. Before giving birth, the female is looking for a secluded corner in the forest. Young females give birth to only one calf. Seniors can have 2 and 3.

Determination of sex, as a rule, is not difficult. In summer, males are easily recognizable by their horns, in winter by a long tuft of hair located on the penis, clearly visible under the belly. It is more difficult to identify annual males with barely growing horns; here you should pay attention to the scrotum. Female roe deer, unlike males, are hornless in summer. In winter, they are easy to identify by a tuft of hair protruding from the vulva, which is clearly distinguished by a yellow spot against the background of a white mirror (Fig. 1).

Fig.1. Distinctive sexual characteristics in male (A) and female (B) roe deer in winter
(Fig. V.M. Gudkov)

Age determination is one of the most important and difficult problems in economic use roe deer. From a distance, it is hardly possible to accurately determine the age of an animal over a year in females and two years in males. The task is greatly facilitated by the fact that the exploited population contains a small number of old animals; most individuals are young and middle-aged.

Cubs differ from adult roe deer in body size until the next spring. Their figure undergoes certain changes with age. One-year-olds of both sexes do not have a massive body, so that their legs seem relatively long, and the croup is slightly raised behind; after the autumn molt, these differences largely disappear. Two-year-old males look more robust than one-year-olds, but still slender. The body of 4-5-year-old males that have reached their maximum weight seems to be squat, the legs are short.

Such a figure is characteristic all the time while the male is at the highest point of his development. Elderly males often again acquire the body shape characteristic of young individuals (Fig. 2).

Fig.2. Age differences in physique in roe deer
A - young; B - middle-aged; B - old individuals (males and females)
(Fig. V.M. Gudkov)

One-year-old females lack an udder in summer. In winter wool, a confident distinction between them and older females is hardly possible. Older females are usually angular, bony and skinny, but in many cases they are indistinguishable from younger ones.

Other signs in determining the age of roe deer can be the shape of the head and neck and the color of the muzzle. One-year-olds have a narrow head; gradually it becomes wider, especially in males, and therefore appears shorter. The neck of the latter is thin and long, set vertically when moving. Over the years, it becomes thicker, more powerful and leans lower. Nevertheless, the situation in which the animals are located should be taken into account: young animals also tilt their necks when feeding; disturbed adult males, on the other hand, hold their neck upright.

Assessment of the age of animals by the color of the muzzle is possible only in the case of a completely completed molt, approximately from June to August. From the end of August, the hair color begins to change again as a result of the autumn molt, which can lead to an incorrect determination. The muzzle of one-year-olds has a single-color dark, sometimes black color. However, in developed males, the white spot on the nose is already well defined; in two-year-old males, it is always clearly demarcated, but increases in size with age, white coloring is lost and goes into gray. In aging males, due to gray hair, the forehead turns gray, gray hair extends to the eyes and gradually the whole head becomes gray. Sretto-gray rings around the eyes ("glasses") serve hallmark old males (Fig. 3).

rice. 3. Age-related variability in male head coloration
A - young; B - middle-aged; B - old
(Fig. V.M. Gudkov)

The color of the muzzle, and indeed the color of the animal, is estimated by the observer in different ways, depending on the weather and the degree of illumination. In addition, coloration is subject to very large individual differences. Therefore, this method is suitable only for determining young and old animals, but not for accurately assessing the age of roe deer.

Horns are also used to determine the age of males. The absence of processes always indicates that these horns are the first, but some one-year-old individuals have processes. In adult males, horns without processes are very rare, the bases and shafts of the horns are always thickened.

A fairly reliable indicator of age is the height of the bases of the horns, which, due to the annual shedding of the horns, decreases from year to year. Males with bases of horns "planted" directly on the skull and partially covered with hair are old.

Many hunters often make the mistake of considering, first of all, the crown of horns as a criterion of age. The so-called "crown", or "coronal", processes are observed in all age classes, but among one-year-old animals there are practically no individuals with processes of horns directed backward; they are found only in older age classes.

The timing of formation, de-skinning, and shedding of antlers is also highly dependent on age. Adult males shed their horns first and form new ones about 3 weeks earlier than young ones and clear them of their skin. In some old specimens of the European roe deer, antlers are fully formed already at the end of February, in middle-aged males - in mid-March, while in one-year-old individuals, their development begins only in March (see Fig. 4). For the formation of horns big influence provides a general physical condition of individuals. At the same age, animals in particularly good physical condition clear their antlers a few weeks earlier, resulting in the appearance of their older age. Wintering conditions can affect the timing of horn formation for all individuals.

Fig.4. The level of development of horns in male roe deer of different age groups
A - underyearlings, B - semi-adults, C - adults; I - V - months

A distinctive feature in determining the age of roe deer is, to some extent, molting. In spring, one-year-olds usually molt first. Middle-aged males change color only by mid-June. Females molt a little later than males in spring, which is associated with pregnancy and lactation.

Autumn molting occurs in the same sequence. First, young individuals lose their summer color, then middle-aged individuals, and lastly, old ones. The period from mid-September to mid- or late October is the most auspicious time to determine the age of roe deer on this basis.

The delay in molting is most often due to diseases or caused by metabolic disorders. Such animals are to be shot.

Their behavior largely contributes to determining the age of roe deer. One-year-old individuals can be observed together with their mother for a relatively long time, sometimes up to childbirth. This age class is characterized by playful behavior, curiosity and less caution. Based on the behavior of two-year-old and older males, it is impossible to determine the exact age, but it is possible to draw a conclusion about "younger" and "older" animals. Over the years, animals become more cautious and distrustful, and, as a rule, they are the last to go to feeding places. In collisions, it is inferior to the younger one, regardless of the development of horns and physical strength; in individuals of the same age, the owner of the territory turns out to be the winner. When defeated, the young male runs back a short distance and then barks for a long time, the old male does not cry at all or barks several times.

Determination of age by teeth and skull

Like all ruminants, the roe deer does not have front teeth (incisors and fangs) in the upper jaw and captures food by pressing it with its lower teeth against hard, keratinized leading edge palate.

Animal teeth have long been used to determine their age. In roe deer, age can be determined in two ways: less accurately - by the wear of the chewing surface of the molars or by the height of the crown of the tooth, and more accurately - by the number of dark stripes on thin sections or microscopic sections of softened (decalcified) teeth.

The roe deer, like other animals of the temperate zone, is characterized by seasonal changes in all physiological functions of the body—nutrition, reproduction, molting, etc. These changes are reflected in the thickness and density of dentin and cementum in the root of the teeth. On a thin section or a colored section, dark narrow stripes of the winter period and wide stripes of the summer period are visible. On them, as well as on a cut of a stump near a tree, the number of years of a given animal is calculated.

As for the method of determining age by the frontal suture, everything is simple here - the frontal suture is pronounced on the skull of a young roe deer and is barely noticeable in an old roe deer.

Roe deer skull treatment

The remnants of the skin are removed from the skull, the lower jaw, tongue are separated, all muscles and eyes are removed. The brain is crushed with a spoon or wire hook and washed with a strong jet of water through a hole in the base of the skull. The more carefully the brain is removed before boiling, the easier it will be to clean and degrease the skull.

Most hunters saw the skull in order to mount the horns with the skull and nasal bone on a wooden plank. This is best done with a special saw after removing the muscles of the head. Nowadays, the custom is becoming more and more widespread to dissect the horns with the skull in its entirety and hang it on the wall without a plaque. Well-developed horns with a full skull make a stronger impression and are of great scientific value.

After a rough preparation, the skull is immersed in cold water for at least 24 hours until all blood has been washed out. At the same time, it is useful to leave it in the water for several days, so that the process of muscle decay begins. Then, when cooking, they are separated from the bones much better. If the horns need to be dissected together with the upper part of the skull, then before cooking the fleshy palatine membrane is cut across, otherwise it tightens and rips out the bones.

It is best to boil the skull in clean water without adding any reagents. This avoids their aggressive effect on the bones and preserves the color of the horns. The length of the boil time depends on the age of the roe deer. The skull is removed when the muscles begin to flake off the bones. The bones are cleaned of large muscles, the water containing fat is replaced with clean warm water and cook further until it becomes possible to easily separate all the muscles.

The skull is dissected, the teeth that have fallen out are glued in, dried and bleached, repeatedly wiping with a cotton swab moistened with a warm 5% hydrogen peroxide solution. To do this, use rubber gloves or work with tweezers.

Bleaching can be done in other ways. Powdered chalk is mixed with a 5% hydrogen peroxide solution to form a slurry. The skull is wrapped in cotton wool smeared with this gruel and placed in a shallow bowl with a 5% hydrogen peroxide solution. Due to the suction action of cotton wool, the slurry remains constantly moistened. The skull packed in this way is left for 24 hours. Then the cotton wool is removed, the skull is dried and brushed.

When bleaching, make sure that the bases of the horns and teeth are not wetted, otherwise they will lose their natural color. Do not bleach with 30% hydrogen peroxide as recommended in many reference books. Such a concentrated solution has an aggressive effect on the bone. In addition, its use is uneconomical and can greatly damage human health.

The sawn-off skull is fixed on a wooden plank fitted in size and shape. In this case, it is important that the bones of the skull evenly fit to the stand. Small size trophies can be glued on a wooden stand. All horns, the parameters of which lie within the limits of the medal, must be attached with screws, since during the trophy assessment their weight and volume must be measured without a stand. The screws are driven through the board into the base of the horns.

The wig-like and similar horns require special treatment. To protect against insects and decay, they are injected with a solution of arsenic with formalin: 1 part of formalin and 1 part of a saturated solution of arsenic are taken for 4 parts of water. To prevent shrinkage of soft wig-like or similar ugly horns, they are paraffinized.