Roe Deer: Scotland's Small Native Deer

Each major claim carries one of three labels. established means supported by primary records, official bodies or several independent reliable sources. shared means the core fact is sound but sources disagree on details, dates or interpretation. traditional means widely repeated but not traceable to a primary or independent source.

Roe deer population estimates for Scotland vary widely because the animals are secretive and hard to count, so this card gives no figure.

A small deer

established The roe deer is smaller than the red deer, with large ears, a black nose and a white chin. In summer it is reddish-brown; in winter, greyish-brown. Its white rump patch flares when it is alarmed. Bucks have short antlers, shed each winter and regrown in velvet.

Delayed implantation

established Roe deer rut in July and August, when bucks chase does in circles, sometimes wearing "roe rings" in the grass. After mating, the fertilised egg stays dormant until around December or January, when it implants and begins to develop. This allows kids to be born in May or June, when food is plentiful. Roe are the only hoofed mammals known to do this.

Survival and spread

established Roe deer disappeared from most of Great Britain through hunting and woodland clearance. According to The Handbook of British Mammals (1991), by the beginning of the eighteenth century they were thought to survive only in remnant woods in parts of the central and north-west Highlands. As Scottish woodland increased during the eighteenth century the Highland roe spread outwards, reaching the Borders by about 1840. Roe in southern England are all considered to come from introductions: at Milton Abbas in Dorset in 1800, from German stock in East Anglia around 1884, and probably from Austrian stock in the Lake District. Twentieth-century forestry then gave them much more habitat, and they are now found throughout mainland Britain.

shared Some writers say roe also hung on in the far north of England. The 1991 Handbook does not support this and treats the Lake District roe as introduced, so the Scottish Highlands are best described as the species' only certain British refuge.

What the 1991 Handbook recorded

established Who wrote it. The roe deer account in G. B. Corbet and S. Harris (eds), The Handbook of British Mammals (3rd edn, 1991) was written by Brian Staines of the Institute of Terrestrial Ecology at Banchory and Peter Ratcliffe of the Forestry Commission.

established Names. The Handbook gives the Scottish Gaelic boc for the buck and earb for the doe. A darker Scottish race was named C. c. thotti in 1910 from Craigellachie in Moray, but it is not generally recognised. Very dark, almost black winter coats occur especially in south-west Scotland and northern England.

established Moorland roe. Roe usually live in woodland, but in parts of Scotland they occupy open moorland with no access to tree cover, and have been seen up to 760 metres there. In winter, groups of more than 60 have been recorded in Scotland, far larger than the small family parties usual in woods.

established Forestry and density. Density follows forest age. In Sitka spruce forests in the Scottish Borders, roe ran at 8 to 25 per km², highest in young plantations of five to 15 years, lowest in dark thicket stands, and rising again in mature forest. Bucks hold territories from April to August, rarely for more than three years. In Scotland in summer roe pick out flowering herbs such as sorrels and rosebay willowherb and the shoots of trees at bud-burst; in winter heather and blaeberry become important.

established Breeding and survival. The rut runs from mid-July to the end of August, and kids are born between mid-May and mid-June; twins are common. Productivity varied widely: about 90 kids per 100 does in poor Scottish populations against 210 in Yorkshire. Between 55% and 65% of kids are lost in their first summer, through death or dispersal. People are the main predator, and foxes and golden eagles take some kids.

established From vermin to game. Before about 1960, roe were widely treated as vermin because of damage to forestry, farming and gardens. From the 1970s they were increasingly valued as a game species and for venison. The Forestry Commission alone was culling more than 13,000 a year by 1991, and Scottish deer law differed from that of England and Wales.

Living alongside people

established Roe deer are adaptable and live in woodland, farmland, moorland edges and even city parks. They browse young trees, shrubs and brambles, and high numbers can prevent woodland regenerating, so they are culled as part of deer management. They are also a cause of road accidents.

• Roe deer are one of Scotland's two native deer species.
• They bark when alarmed.
• Their embryos wait months before developing.
• Their white rump patch flares when they are alarmed.
• They live in city parks as well as forests.
• Roe are the only even-toed hoofed mammals known to have delayed implantation.
• In parts of Scotland roe live on open moorland with no trees at all.
• In 1991 roe were absent from most Scottish islands, but present on Bute, Islay, Seil and Skye.
• The Gaelic for a roe doe is earb; a buck is boc.

• Do not give a precise population figure.
• Do not say roe survived in northern England as well as Scotland without a source; the 1991 Handbook names only the Scottish Highlands.
• Do not treat roe in southern England as the descendants of an unbroken native population; they come from 19th-century introductions.