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How to distinguish a male roe deer from a female. Stubbe K., Danilkin A. Methods for studying roe deer. Roe deer: determination of sex and age

As a rule, determining gender is not difficult. This can be done by looking at the horns in the summer; males have them. And in winter, the sex of the male can be determined by the tuft of hair on the penis, which is very clearly visible. It is not much more difficult to determine male from female at one year of age, when even in summer there are no horns. Then you can do this by paying attention to the scrotum. And females can be easily identified in winter by the tuft of hair protruding from the vulva. How to determine the age of a roe deer?

How to determine the age of a roe deer?

When it comes to age determination, things are a little worse. Although this is quite an important point in the case when roe deer are used in economic purposes. If the animal has passed one or two years of age, then the exact age cannot be determined from a distance.

  • In general terms, we can say that one-year-old and elderly individuals do not have a massive body; their legs seem quite long. But when the male is at the peak of all development, his body looks more squat and his legs are shorter.
  • As for females, then in at a young age they have no udder at all. And old females have a skinny, bony and angular body.
  • Also indicators of age are the shape of the head and its color. In relatively young individuals the head is narrow, but then in males it becomes wide and appears shorter. The method of determining age by color is only suitable for determining whether an animal is young or old. It is impossible to determine more precisely.
  • You can judge by color only after molting has occurred. As for males, yearlings have a dark, almost black muzzle. Males that have already developed appear white spot in the area of ​​the nose, and the further you go, the more the spot grows, and by old age it becomes gray in color. Also, the old age of an animal can be determined by its graying appearance.
  • One of the most reliable indicators is the horns. More precisely, the height of their bases. Due to the fact that the horns are shed annually, their height becomes smaller every year. If a male has horns “set” on the skull and covered with hair, then this indicates that he is old. Another indicator of the youth of a male is the absence of shoots on the horns. If they are not there, this is a sign that the horns are the first. Adults always have processes and the shafts of their horns at the base are quite thick.
  • The shedding of horns is also an age indicator. Adult males are the first to shed their antlers. And they grow and shed new skin about 3 weeks earlier than young ones. We can also say that in old roe deer the formation of antlers is fully formed by the end of February, in middle-aged males by mid-March, and in young ones only their development begins in March. But here it should be taken into account that the formation of horns is greatly influenced by physical condition animal. If it's on high level, then the horns will develop early and this will create the appearance that the animal is old.
  • Another age can be determined by molting. It occurs in the spring; young one-year-old individuals begin to molt first. Males of the middle age category change color only by mid-June. And females molt even later. Molting, which occurs in the fall, occurs in the same sequence.
  • The age of roe deer can also be determined by their behavior. Young individuals stay close to their mother for quite a long time. Sometimes even before your own birth. And naturally they are more playful, curious and less cautious. You can also distinguish older animals by their behavior; they are more distrustful and cautious.
  • The age of a roe deer is well determined by the skull and teeth of the animal. Age is determined with less accuracy by the degree to which the teeth have been ground down.
  • A more accurate age can be determined by the number of dark stripes on the teeth, which become softer with age from a lack of calcium.
  • Changes in the roe deer's body are directly reflected in the teeth. Narrow dark stripes appear on the tooth section in winter, and wider ones in summer. And every year there are more of them.
  • As for determining age from the skull, here you need to rely on the frontal suture. In young individuals it is pronounced, in old individuals it is barely noticeable.

With optimal hunting management, it does not matter what age the animals are shot. When hunting for commercial purposes, the goal is to catch more young males and leave older females for reproduction. In sports farming, when it is necessary to raise large males with valuable trophies, it is better to carry out selective shooting so that a sufficient number of young males with good inclinations remain on the land.

Young animals of the current year of birth can be easily distinguished from older animals by their smallest overall size. It is much more difficult to identify 1.5-year-old individuals. The following signs can help in identification: 1.5-year-old males usually have awl-shaped horns or two ends on each horn. There are no calves near the females at this age; they graze either in two or three individuals separately from others, or they join family groups. The main difference between 1.5-year-olds and older individuals is their slightly shortened neck and head. Their fur is more beautiful, without bald patches and shreds of old wool.

The age of a shot roe deer can most easily be determined by its teeth, although it can be previously estimated by its overall body size and weight, and in males, by its antlers. Animals older than 4 years of age usually have large, thick horns.

Roe, like all ruminants, does not have frontal teeth (incisors and canines) in the upper jaw. It grabs food, pressing it with the teeth on the lower jaw to the hard, keratinized frontal edge of the palate. You can find the age of a roe deer by its teeth in 2 ways: the least accurate - by the wear of the chewing surface of the molars or by the height of the tooth crown; more precisely, by the number of black stripes on thin sections or microscopic sections of softened (decalcified) teeth, incisors or molars.

Microsections of incisors are ideally created on a freezing microtome stained with hemotaxillin. In this case, the axis of the cut should run along the tooth. Cutting a molar for grinding is more targeted in the area between the roots.

Roe deer, like other animals temperate zone, seasonal changes in all physiological functions of the body (nutrition, reproduction, molting, etc.) are characteristic. All these changes are reflected in the thickness, density of dentin and cement in the roots of the teeth. On a thin section or on a narrow specially colored section, black narrow stripes are visible in the winter period and wide ones in the summer. From them, like on a tree stump, the number of years of a given animal is calculated.

When comparing the age of roe deer, estimated from the wear of molars and from microsections, it was revealed that in some cases there is a noticeable discrepancy in these indicators. Thus, one female roe deer, hunted in the foothills of the Sayan Mountains, had her molar crowns worn down almost to the gums. It was established from the thin section that age she was only 5.5 years old. In this case roe or spent a lot of time on salt licks and chewed salted soil, or lived in an area where plants had a huge amount of silicon.

Limit age a roe deer reaches 15 years in captivity, and among the Siberian roe deer shot, the oldest one turned out to be male at the age of 11 years 6 months.

The beginning of an individual hunt for a male roe deer in Ukraine can be easily compared to the New Year celebration: it is the beginning of the next hunting season. And if for experienced hunters this is a reason to take up arms after several tedious months of calm, then for beginners it is a chance to try themselves as an animal hunter and take the first steps in solving mysteries with many unknowns. This article is an attempt to briefly outline 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 simple. It would seem that it could be simpler: I came to 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 - approximately 25 kg. It goes without saying that the animal must have horns, because only males of the European roe deer have horns.
In essence, everything is so: if you don’t go into too much detail, then this whole hunt can be reduced to repeated visits to “roe deer places.”
For now, let’s leave without considering all the variety of methods for hunting roe deer and first let’s figure out: where are these places?
The roe deer is a territorial animal: having seen it in a certain place, you can safely count on meeting it again in the same place, unless, of course, other hunters “eat it” before you.
As a rule, these artiodactyls choose to live in sparse, mixed forests with dense undergrowth and the presence of clearings or clearings with forest herbs. They can also settle in thickets of hazel mixed with shrubs, or on the outskirts of deciduous forests near 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 are also not too fond of birch groves.

Daily activity

The most ideal time to search for roe deer is morning (from dawn) and evening (until dark). On cool days, animal activity is higher; on sunny and hot days it decreases significantly. 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 finish hunting and wait for the evening to start hunting no earlier than 19:00.
The anxiety factor also affects daily activity. If roe deer are not disturbed, they are active almost all the time during the day, with the exception of the period from 11:00 to 15:00. If the disturbance factor is very high, then roe deer go out to feed only at dawn and at night. They stand for a long time in bushes, thickets or undergrowth at the edge of the forest, waiting for dusk to set in.
If you are hunting in such an area and the weather is wet on the day of the hunt, you can slowly and carefully walk along the edge of the forest through the underbrush. Often in such conditions it is possible to catch a cautious male roe deer with very worthy trophy qualities. On a dry day, when everything under your feet is crackling treacherously, this trick, of course, will not work - and hunting in such a place will most likely only result in 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 is light or dark red in color, and in winter it is gray; but in early May, when the hunting season opens, the female still has spring molt, which lasts until the end of May. Very often you can find an animal with gray fur 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 search method at the beginning of the season is to walk around the clearings and clearings that roe deer use as feeding places in early May. It is on them that, first of all, fresh grass, shoots and leaves appear on the bush. Mammals, tired of their winter twig diet, rush there to feast on succulent food. There we look out for them, carefully moving along forest roads.
The hunter, imagining the silhouette of a roe deer, walks around clearings and clearings, trying to find an analogue of what he is imagining on the ground. I want to say right away that it is often difficult to spot a roe deer on the ground with the naked eye, so it would be wise to arm yourself not only with a rifle, but also with binoculars - preferably fast ones that work even in the twilight. You should walk around the area slowly; it is useful to stop often and look around the entire area. It is extremely important to be as quiet as possible when walking. The first thing we should look for is the ears and head of the animal. Even in a completely motionless roe deer, these parts of the body are almost always in motion. Second important detail: Roe deer, unlike deer, must be looked for against the background of tree trunks, and not in the gaps between them, since this makes them easier to notice.
Over time, in the clearings the leaves and grass burn out, becoming dry, and in the thickets, where less sunlight penetrates, they only ripen. Therefore, by the end of May, roe deer change feeding places, moving into the thickets. They now go out into the clearings mainly only in the morning to dry off with the first rays of the sun and warm up after a cool night. They can also come out of the thickets into clearings during rain - to get rid of the drops that frighten them. This can happen at any time of the day, and the hunter has the right to take advantage of this to achieve results.
...I sneaked through the hazel thickets, in which a male roe deer was taking a rest for the day. The first time I noticed him getting up from his bed, but the vegetation prevented me from shooting. The second time he jumped into the dense thicket of elderberry bushes. The male was so cautious 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 wouldn’t get it. Suddenly it began to rain, which soon intensified. Knowing that in the rain, roe deer often come out of the thickets into clearings, I stopped sneaking and walked with a quiet but fast step to the clearing, located to my left about two hundred meters. 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 on a course parallel to me. Before I had time to decide how it would be more convenient to shoot him - standing or from a kneeling position - a male appeared in the clearing, exactly in the place where I expected him. Getting it was just a matter of an accurate shot...
By the end of May, the roe deer change their feeding places and the frequency of exits from the thickets - accordingly, we change our hunting style. 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 ambush.

Roe deer like to hide in such holes during the day

Firebreaks allow you to move through the forest much more quietly

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

In addition to tracking activity, roe deer roll calls will also help us a lot in determining a promising place for an ambush. Back in March–April, males choose their own individual areas and protect them from the encroachments of rivals, every evening arranging a kind of roll call, “barking” from their areas. From this bark, standing in the forest in the evening, we can approximately count the number of males in a given area and determine their habitats. By subsequently superimposing the marked places on a map of the area, you can almost accurately identify clearings or clearings that are promising for an ambush. At first, to make sure my assumptions were correct, I carried out reconnaissance of such clearings and the undergrowth around them in search of places of roe deer beds and bark torn off by horns on tree branches - such traces are left by a male roe deer, cleaning the horns and marking its territory.
As for the barking of roe deer itself, the evening “roll call” has nothing in common with the barking of a frightened roe deer. The barking of a frightened roe deer is 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. 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 of rivers, in swamps, meadows or in the field, where the places are much better blown by the wind, and therefore there is less midges than in the forest. Therefore, if you do not find the animal in the forest, then you can try to look for it near forested areas.

Wait, who's coming?..

Often, when watching a male roe deer even through binoculars, you don’t 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, does not yet represent any trophy value, holds its neck almost vertically when walking. The most interesting “trophy” males, aged from two to seven years, hold their necks at an angle of about forty-five degrees when walking. In animals older than seven years, the neck is almost parallel to the ground when walking.

Equipment

When making detours or choosing places for ambush, we must be guided by the wind. To determine its direction, you can use talc from a bottle or rubber bulb, or a plant like dandelion or biennial aspen. You just need to ensure that your own scent does not spread in the direction from which you are expecting the animal. Therefore, means of determining wind direction must be taken care of in advance. Considering that the hunt for a male roe deer takes place during a period when there are a lot of midges, it would be useful to think in advance about ways to protect against them: ideally, this is an anti-mosquito suit. If you don’t have one, then gloves and a head net will help out. Aerosol repellents should not be used - their smell is detectable even to the 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 hunts, I use lightweight Chiruca Sabana boots, over which I wear protective gaiters to protect myself from debris and ticks. For morning hunts with heavy dew and rainy days, I prefer rubber boots. As for clothing, this is again a matter of taste and opportunity. Of course, it’s better to leave your formal dress at home, even if hunting is a holiday for you. A comfortable, modern hunting suit with 3D camouflage colors will help you simply blend into the terrain - which is what you actually need on a game hunt.
Regarding weapons, I’ll say very briefly: ideally a carbine is suitable for such hunts, but in general you can get a male roe deer using smoothbore weapons. It is much more important to camouflage the weapon with a camouflage cover or tape, so as not to give yourself away by glare from metal surfaces during sudden movements - which, by the way, should also be avoided.
Well, in fact, if we talk about shooting, then it is important to be cool-blooded and take the shot responsibly. Despite its small size, a male roe deer often turns out to be very strong in the wound - and even if hit in 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 ​​the shoulder blade or neck. If the roe deer does not see you and is on the move, you should not shoot it on the move; 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. There is only one nuance in this simple method of stopping a roe deer for a shot - you can make “noise” only if the roe deer is in a relatively clear place, and there are no bushes or trees between you that block your 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 day in June

Having overcome the city's midday traffic jams and taken a break from the bustle of the city, within a few hours I was standing on the top of a large hill and examining the area with binoculars.
The clock hands showed six in the evening, but the day was hot, and I expected the beast to come out no earlier than seven or even half past seven.
I planned the detour route for myself on the way to the land. The area where I planned to hunt that day consisted of overgrown ravines separating fields of soybeans and clover. In fact, the roe deer spent the whole day in them, going out to feed in the fields in the morning and evening. Since there had been no rain for a long time and everything underfoot was cracking treacherously, my the only way To conduct a dynamic hunt, we walked around ravines - in some places along the edge of a ravine and field, and in others along field roads - and shot roe deer emerging from the vegetation. Having determined the direction of the wind, I began the hunt. The first male was spotted around seven in the evening. He stood in the field just five meters from the undergrowth from which he had emerged. This confirmed my assumptions that the roe deer were just starting to come out to feed. Getting closer, I examined the young animal in its second year of life through binoculars and left it to graze calmly. Having walked about a kilometer, at the edge of a field and an overgrown ravine, I came across another male. This one was only 20 meters away from me and, standing sideways to me, calmly chewed grass. “Everything is somehow too simple,” I thought, but I couldn’t let go of this either - with his barking he would have alerted the entire neighborhood about the danger, and I would have to urgently change the place, going several kilometers away. 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 the carbine, and the shot broke the silence. Taking a rope out of his backpack, he used a knife to make a cut in the male’s hind leg near the tendon and hung the animal on the nearest tree. If I have to leave my prey when I go in search of a new one, I always hang it at a sufficient height from the ground - to protect it from stray dogs and foxes who can find it by the smell of blood.

As I continued my hunt, I encountered feeding females a couple more 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 the barking of a roe deer was heard - this was the beginning of the evening roll call.

Another one responded closer to me, about three hundred meters away. The one who barked far away first barked again. And then, completely unexpectedly, “bow” was heard right next to me - only about forty meters away. A couple of minutes later 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 European roe deer (lat. Sarreolus Sarreolus) is an artiodactyl animal belonging to the deer family and the genus Roe deer. This small and very graceful deer is also well known under the names of wild goat, roe deer or simply roe deer.

Description of the roe deer

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 ranging from 108-126 cm and an average height at the withers of no more than 66-81 cm. The female European roe deer is slightly smaller than the male, but 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 head narrowed towards the nose, which is relatively high and wide in the eye area. The skull is widened in the eye area, with a wide and shortened facial part. The long and oval ears have a clearly visible point. Eyes large sizes, convex, with obliquely set pupils. The animal's neck is long and relatively thick. The legs are thin and long, with narrow and relatively short hooves. The tail part is rudimentary, completely hidden under the “mirror” hairs. In spring summer period In males, the sweat and sebaceous glands become greatly enlarged, and the males mark their territory through secretions. The most developed senses in roe deer are hearing and smell.

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

There is no supraorbital process, and the main horny trunk is characterized by a backward curve. Horns of round cross-section, having large number tubercles - “pearls” and a large rosette. Some individuals have an anomaly in the development of horns. Roe deer develop antlers from the age of four months. The horns reach full development by the age of three, and they are shed in October-December. Female European roe deer are usually hornless, but there are individuals with ugly horns.

The color of adult individuals is monochromatic and completely devoid of sexual dimorphism. IN winter period 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 disc is characterized by a white or light reddish color. With the onset of summer, the body and neck acquire a uniform red color, and the belly has a whitish-red color. In general, the summer color is more uniform compared to the winter “outfit”. The existing population of melanistic roe deer inhabits low-lying and marshy areas of Germany, and is distinguished by its glossy black summer coat and matte black winter fur with a lead-gray belly.

Roe deer lifestyle

Roe deer are characterized by a daily periodicity of behavior, in which periods of movement and grazing alternate with chewing and rest. The periods of morning and evening activity are the longest, but the daily rhythm is determined by several very basic factors, including the season of the year, time of day, natural habitat conditions, and the degree of disturbance.

This is interesting! Average speed The running speed of an adult animal is 60 km/h, and while feeding, roe deer move in small steps, stopping and listening often.

In the spring-summer period, animals show increased activity at sunset, which is due to a large number of blood-sucking insects. In winter, feedings become longer, which helps compensate for energy costs. Grazing takes approximately 12-16 hours, and about ten hours are allotted for chewing food and rest. The roe deer moves calmly at a trot or walk, and in case of danger the animal moves in leaps and bounds with periodic jumps. Males cover their entire territory every day.

Lifespan

European roe deer have high vitality until they reach the age of six years, which is confirmed by an analysis of the age composition of the studied population. Most likely, after reaching such a physiological state, the animal becomes weak and absorbs nutritional components from feed worse, and also does not tolerate adverse external factors well. The longest lifespan of the European roe deer in natural conditions was recorded in Austria, where, as a result of repeated capture of tagged animals, an individual was discovered that was fifteen years old. In captivity, the artiodactyl can live for a quarter of a century.

Subspecies of roe deer

The European roe deer is distinguished by wide geographical variability in size and color, which makes it possible to distinguish within its range a large number of geographical races, as well as different subspecific forms. Today, a pair of subspecies of Sarreolus Sarreolus Sarreolus L. is clearly distinguished:

  • Sarreolus Sarreolus italiсus Festa is a subspecies that lives in southern and central Italy. Guarded rare species inhabits the territories between southern part Tuscany, Apulia and Lazio, right up to the lands of Calabria.
  • Capreolus capreolus garganta Meunier is a subspecies characterized by its characteristic gray fur color in the summer. It lives in southern Spain, including Andalusia or the Sierra de Cadiz.

Sometimes large roe deer from the territory of the North Caucasus are also included in the subspecies Capreolus capreolus caucasicus, and the population of the Middle East is symbolically assigned to Capreolus capreolus coxi.

Range, habitats

European roe deer inhabit mixed and deciduous forest areas of various types, as well as forest-steppe areas. In clean coniferous forests artiodactyls are found only in the presence of deciduous undergrowth. In zones of true steppes, as well as deserts and semi-deserts, representatives of the Roe deer genus are absent. For the best feeding areas, the animal prefers areas of sparse light forest, rich in shrubs and surrounded by fields or meadows. In summer, the animal is found in tall grass meadows overgrown with shrubby undergrowth, in the territory of reed fields and floodplain forests, as well as in overgrown ravines and clearings. The artiodactyl prefers to avoid the continuous forest zone.

This is interesting! In general, European roe deer belong to the category of animals of the forest-steppe type, more adapted to living in tall grass and shrub biotope than in conditions of dense forest stand or open steppe zone.

The average population density of European roe deer in typical biotopes increases from the northern part to the south of the range. Unlike other ungulates in Europe, the roe deer is most adapted to living in a cultivated landscape and close to people. In some places, such an animal lives almost year-round on various agricultural lands, hiding under forest trees only for rest or in unfavorable weather. The choice of habitat is primarily influenced by accessibility food base and the availability of cover, especially in open terrain. Also of no small importance is the height of the snow cover and the presence of predatory animals in the selected area.

Diet of the European roe deer

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. A small part of the diet consists of mosses and lichens, as well as mosses, mushrooms and ferns. Roe deer are most likely to eat greens and branches:

  • aspen;
  • poplars;
  • rowan;
  • linden;
  • birch;
  • ash;
  • oak and beech;
  • hornbeam;
  • honeysuckle;
  • bird cherry;
  • buckthorn.

In order to replenish the lack of minerals, artiodactyls visit salt licks and drink water from springs that are rich in mineral salts. Animals obtain water mainly from plant foods and snow, and the average daily need is about one and a half liters. The winter diet is less varied and is most often represented by shoots and buds of trees or shrubs, dry grass and loose leaves. When there is no food, mosses and lichen are dug out from under the snow, and tree needles and bark are also eaten.

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

Due to the small volume of the stomach and the relatively fast digestion process, roe deer need fairly frequent feeding. Pregnant and lactating females, as well as males during the rutting period, require maximum food. According to the type of feeding, the European roe deer belongs to the category of nibbling animals, which never completely eat all available vegetation, but only tear off part of the plant, which makes the damage caused to various agricultural crops insignificant.

It is known that the average lifespan of a roe deer is about fifteen years. The approximate age of this animal can be determined from some external signs. For example, a young individual has a slender long neck, a vigorous gait and a raised head. The older male has a thicker neck, a heavy body and a slightly lowered head, as well as clumsy and slow movements. The exact age of a killed animal can be determined only by the lower jaw, and the approximate age by the cranial sutures and the thickness of the outgrowths. It is known that the older an animal is, the more its molars are worn out, etc. There is another way to determine the age of an animal - by its horns.

What kind of antlers does a roe deer have and when does it shed them? And how to determine their age? The answers to these questions can be found in this article by reading the information presented in it.

A little bit of history

The genus Capreolus Gray has its roots in the Miocene muntjacs, which belong to the subfamily Cervulinae. During the Upper Miocene - Lower Pliocene, a group of forms similar in some characteristics to modern roe deer (genus Procapreolus Schloss) already lived in Europe and Asia. Closer to them is the genus Pliocervus Hilzh (Middle Pliocene).

The genus Capreolus dates back approximately to the Upper Pliocene or Lower Pleistocene, and the existence of the species Capreolus capreolus (European roe deer) at the end of the Ice Age is reliably established.

In the relatively recent past, the habitat of the roe deer (a photo of the animal is presented in the article) in temperate latitudes was continuous. The zone of greatest abundance of this animal covers areas with a snow depth not exceeding ten to twenty centimeters. Due to predatory extermination in the years before the revolution, the habitat of these animals fell apart. Only as a result of certain measures the roe deer recent years again began to populate areas where it had been absent for several decades.

Today this animal inhabits the territories of European countries as far as Scandinavia and the Gulf of Finland. Roe deer live in the vast expanses of Ukraine, Belarus, and the Baltic republics. Crimea, Ural, Caucasus, Central Asia, Tien Shan and Altai, Siberia, Korea, Northern Mongolia and northeastern China are also natural habitat habitat of this animal.

Although the roe deer's habitat covers vast territories, their widespread (continuous) settlement in these areas is not observed. Where roe deer live, there are vast forest-steppes and deciduous light forests with large clearings covered with thick grass. Under the influence of active human attacks on forest-steppe areas (both in Europe and in most regions of Asia), as well as in connection with the occupation of vast lands for agricultural purposes. agriculture, roe deer began to be pushed further and further into mixed forests (except for taiga zones).

On the territory of the southern borders of their range, roe deer have taken root well in mountain forests, in reed and bush thickets, in lake reeds and forest plantations, in farmland fields, and so on.

Description

The second name for roe deer is wild goat. The animal has a relatively short body, and its rear part is slightly higher and thicker than the front. An adult male reaches 32 kilograms with a height of up to 126 centimeters. Average height at the withers is 66-81 cm. The female roe deer is smaller than the male, and sexual dimorphism is weakly expressed.

The head of a roe deer is short and wedge-shaped, narrowing towards the nose. Oval shape long ears have a noticeable sharpening. The large eyes are slightly convex and have slanted pupils. The animal's legs are long and thin, with short and narrow hooves.

The color of the fur of a roe deer (photo of the animal is presented in the article) is different in summer and winter. IN warm period During the summer, its coat color can range from gray to reddish-brown, and in cold weather - brownish-gray. The lower part of the body is usually lighter than the upper part. In addition to the usual colored roe deer, black, white and motley ones are sometimes found.

Lifespan

In natural habitats, the life expectancy of roe deer is, as noted above, approximately fifteen years, but it is unlikely that any of them can reach this age in the wild.

Even the most experienced and careful animals are likely to die for a variety of reasons. To a greater extent, they are shot by hunters and do not even live to reach half the age limit.

More details about horns

Roe deer horns are divided into two types according to their structure:

  1. European horns. They are small in size (usually equal to the length of the skull) and their trunks, located vertically, are directed almost parallel to each other. Such horns usually have no more than three processes. One of them (the front one) is directed forward, the second is directed back, and the third, representing the end of the horn, is directed upward. At the bases there are large rosettes (bone growths) with complex surface, on which tubercles (pearls or pearls) are developed. The length of the horns is more than thirty centimeters.
  2. Roe deer horns of the Siberian type. They are much larger in size (more than 45 centimeters). The horns are set wider and diverge more to the sides. Their apices often bend inward towards each other, and the posterior processes bifurcate at the ends. The anterior processes are directed inward. In Siberian roe deer, the rosettes are less developed, but wider than in European roe deer, and do not touch. Their tubercles are also less dense, but the tubercles are higher and larger (they look like shoots). Each horn has three to five processes.

When do roe deer shed their antlers?

Roe deer, like deer, are winter time shed their horns. They develop in the following sequence. In male goats, the first horns appear in the first year of life, in the fall (October-November). These are low bone processes (“pipes”) covered with skin. By the spring of next year (April-May), they grow just above the ears and are already unbranched thick “pins”, which, after peeling, become smooth and pointed (“rods”). Males wear them until December-January, after which the first horns fall off and only stumps remain on the skull, overgrown with skin.

After about two months (in spring), young male roe deer begin to grow antlers again, but larger ones and also covered with skin. They are fully formed by summer and already have 2-3 shoots. Around mid-summer (beginning of the rutting period), the horns are again cleared of “velvet.” and differ from the horns of adult individuals only in a thinner shaft and processes, as well as a faintly noticeable rosette. At the age of more than 2 years (November-December of the third year), the second horns are also shed. And again they are left with stumps, overgrown with skin, and their formation occurs again until next year. The last horns no longer differ from the horns of older individuals. There is a cyclical change every year, but the number of shoots no longer increases. They only become more prominent. Older bucks may experience changes in the shape of their horns and a decrease in their weight.

About the age of the animal

How to determine the age or gender of a roe deer by its antlers? Determining the sex of an animal is not difficult, especially in summer, since during this period males have them. How to determine age?

With this, things are a little worse, although this is quite important point in the use of roe deer for economic purposes. In an animal that is more than two years old, the exact age is more difficult to determine, especially from a distance. And yet, the horns of a roe deer are one of the most reliable indicators in determining its age. This is especially true for the height of the bases of the horns. Due to the fact that they are reset annually, this figure decreases every year.

In the case when the male’s horns are “set” on the skull and covered with hair, this indicates that the individual is old. Another indicator of a male’s old age is the presence of shoots on the horns. This is a sign that the horns are not the first. Adults always have processes on their horns, and the shafts of their horns are thick.

The age indicator is also the shedding of horns. Adult males shed them first. In them, this happens about three weeks earlier than new horns grow and peel off the skin in young individuals. In addition to all this, in old animals the horns are fully formed by the end of February, and in middle-aged males - around mid-March. In young individuals, their development is just beginning in March.

Trophy roe deer antlers

In addition to the skin and meat of the hunted animal, its horns are also valuable. Among the numerous trophy collections of hunters, the most valuable are exhibits of ungulates, including roe deer. Horns with skulls, and even those obtained with one’s own hands, are a source of pride for every hunter. Most often, specialists are involved in making the trophy. However, if desired, anyone can independently make a high-quality trophy skull.

Many people decorate their hunting rooms with items made from roe deer horns, but there are also people who collect items made from roe deer horns and take part in various exhibitions. Before processing the trophy, the hunter must take care of it immediately at the hunting site.

Most often, people, without the necessary skills, perform actions incorrectly and damage the skull and horns during transportation. There are internationally accepted requirements regarding trophies.

How are they assessed?

Horns represent one of the most significant trophies. However, each of the exhibits is unique and different in its qualities and characteristics. In this regard, the question arises: how to evaluate them correctly? For this purpose, in 1952 in Madrid at the International Congress of Hunters, an assessment methodology was adopted hunting trophies. In Copenhagen in 1955 International Council hunting, some additions and changes were made to the methodology that was adopted earlier.

When assessing the horns of a roe deer with points, weight, thickness, length, number of branches, color and other indicators are taken into account. Linear measurements are made in both centimeters and millimeters, and weight - in grams and kilograms. The camber and span of the horns are calculated by the ratio of the distance between them to the average size of the right and left horns. The measurement values ​​are then multiplied by the coefficients set for each part. The maximum coefficient is the horn mass indicator. Information about the measurements obtained is entered into a special trophy sheet, which indicates the details of the person who killed the animal, the date and place of the kill, and the total and net weight of the animal. The trophy sheet is signed by all representatives of the commission evaluating the trophy, and the document is certified by a seal hunting farm where it was mined.

Some interesting facts

The following is noteworthy:

  1. As a rule, each horn of an adult wild goat has no more than three branches. The animal acquires such horns for quite short term, and its further exact age (after the complete formation of horns) is quite difficult to determine from the horns.
  2. Some individuals have an anomaly in the development of these processes. Roe deer begin to develop horns at the age of 4 months. European females are usually hornless, but some are found with malformed horns.
  3. The color tone of the horns depends on the health of the animal and the food it eats, as well as on the type of woody plant on the trunk of which the roe deer peels the skin from its shoots. For example, the tannin contained in oak bark gives them a dark brown color.
  4. Horns from the same area are usually similar to each other. For example, all Central European aged males have rather close corollas, often touching and preventing each other from developing. On the other hand, roe deer in Siberia (Altai) have horns that are very different from those in Central Europe. Their corollas are much smaller, do not touch, and are even spaced about five centimeters from each other, and the antlers themselves, which have a bend characteristic of deer, reach a great length and branch in a peculiar way.
  5. There is some assumption that the name of this animal is associated with the structure of its eyes, the pupils of which are slanted, and the color is necessarily brown. The roe deer's flirtatious eyes have long and fluffy upper eyelashes. Small lacrimal pits are disproportionate and are expressed by shallow six-millimeter depressions without hair in the shape of a triangle.
  6. For unknown reasons, males sometimes grow abnormal horns that have no appendages. It is known that such individuals are very dangerous for their relatives, since during ritual fights their horns can pierce an opponent through and through.

It is also important to note that the roe deer is the oldest representative of deer. Archaeologists have found the remains of animals similar to them, belonging to individuals that lived on Earth about forty million years ago.

In conclusion

When determining the age of an animal by its horns, the following should be taken into account: their formation takes a long time strong influence affects the physical condition of the individual. If it is at a high enough level, the development of horns will occur earlier, and this can make the animal appear to be much older than it actually is.