The Roe Deer, like the Red Deer, is native to England and can be found in most parts of England apart from the Midlands and the south-east. It is a stocky-looking mammal that has a reddish brown fur in summer and a grey or dark brown fur in winter. It has a dark stripe over its nose which looks like a moustache. The female Roe Deer is called a ‘Doe’ and the male is called a ‘Buck’. The Buck is easily recognisable because it has a set of relatively short antlers.

The Buck’s antlers fall off between October and December and new antlers start to grow immediately. The antlers are covered in a velvet-like fur which starts to drop off after about three months, but sometimes it just hangs down in strips. The Buck rubs its antlers against trees to try and get rid of any unwanted fur.

Roe Deer prefer to live in forests and woods, but sometimes they can be seen on open ground looking for food. They eat grass, heather, pine nuts and acorns. They regurgitate their food which means they partly chew it, swallow it and then bring it back up into their mouth. This semi-digested food is known as ‘cud’ which is chewed again and swallowed. Roe Deer like to find safe and secure places to chew their cud in peace and quiet.