ROE deer can often be glimpsed in a wood now that the trees are bare, and sometimes they will come bounding out across a field at great speed.
However, they can quickly disappear into the undergrowth, and the Spanish call them “the ghosts of the forest”. They have no obvious tail, but when they are running away they can be identified by the cream-coloured patch where their tail should be.
In winter their coat is thick and grey, but as spring advances it will turn lighter and browner. They are small deer, about 3ft high at the shoulder.
The bucks are now growing their new antlers, which are quite short but very elegant. At first they are coated in velvet. A front view, with the deer looking intently at one before it skips away, reveals also a pretty face, with a black forehead, moustache and nose contrasting with a little white chin.
Roe deer are very common in Scotland, and fairly common in England, especially in the North and South West.
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If they colonise new woods, the population can grow rapidly, because the does often give birth to twin kids in the summer. DJM