Mary Allen
The roe deer belongs to the deer family and is a mammal. The male is called a roebuck. The female is called a doe or goat. The young animal is a fawn or simply a fawn. Only the male has small antlers, not as powerful as the red deer.
Adult deer are over a meter long. The shoulder height is between 50 and 80 centimeters. This is measured from the floor to the top of the back. The weight is between about 10 and 30 kilograms, about the same as many dogs. It all depends on whether the deer was able to feed itself well.
When we say roe deer, we always mean European roe deer. It lives throughout Europe except in the far north, but also in Turkey and some of its neighboring countries. There are no European deer further away. The Siberian deer is very similar. It lives in southern Siberia, Mongolia, China, and Korea.
How do deer live?
Deer eat grass, buds, various herbs, and young leaves. They also like young shoots, for example from small fir trees. Humans don’t like that, because then the fir trees can’t develop properly.
Like our dairy cows, deer are ruminants. So they only chew their food roughly and then let it slide into a kind of forestomach. Later they lie down comfortably, regurgitate the food, chew it extensively, and then swallow it into the correct stomach.
Deer are flight animals because they cannot defend themselves. They like to live in places where they can find cover. In addition, deer can smell very well and recognize their enemies early. Eagles, wild cats, wild boars, dogs, foxes, lynxes, and wolves like to eat deer, especially young deer that cannot escape. Humans also hunt deer, and many are killed by cars.
How do deer breed?
Deer usually live alone. In July or August, the males seek out a female and have intercourse. They say they mate. However, the fertilized egg cell does not continue to develop until around December. Birth occurs in May or June. Usually, there are one to four cubs. After an hour they can already stand, and after two days they can walk properly.
Fawns drink milk from their mother. It is also said: They are suckled by their mother. That is why deer belong to mammals. For the time being, they stay where they were born. After about four weeks, they take their first forays with their mother and begin to eat plants. In the summer after next, they are sexually mature themselves. So you can have a young yourself.