What does roe deer feed on? Wild roe deer (photo)

Who is a roe deer? What does this animal eat? If you are interested in knowing the answer to these and other similar questions, then this article is for you.

Roe deer description

A roe deer, or a wild goat, is a relatively small cloven-hoofed animal of the deer family. Its height is not more than 80 cm, the length of the adult does not exceed 130 cm, and the body weight is about 30 kg. The external differences between males and females are poorly expressed: the dimensions of the latter are slightly smaller. In males in the spring-autumn period, small vertical lyre-shaped horns grow with not more than three shoots from 15 to 30 cm in height, depending on the age of the individual. In the form of anomalies, horns can also occur in females. Color of roe deers is one-color, without division according to gender. In summer, red tones prevail, in winter - gray or brown. The darker coat on the back and head of a wild goat, closer to the limbs, it brightens. At birth, pronounced spots of red and yellow tones are observed on the back, which disappear by 3 months of life.

Here is a description of the European roe deer. In addition, in the nature there is a population of roe deer, distinguished by the predominance of black coat color. They dwell in the vastness of Germany.

Over the last several decades, due to various state protection measures, high fertility and good adaptation to the changed territories, there has been a growing trend in the number of these amazing animals.

And what does the wild beast eat?

The food of roe deer mainly consists of plants growing in its habitat. Mostly wild goats are found in the forest-steppe belt, where the forest is rare, with a large number of shrubs, fringes with dense vegetation and a sufficient number of secluded places in which to hide from predators. The size of the animal is small, so the plants that eats roe deer should be located at an affordable height. Mostly the diet includes grass, bark of trees, shrubs, mosses, berries, fruits, nuts. An animal's diet largely depends on the season, which affects not only the species of the growing plants, but also the social structure of the roe deer's behavior. By the way, what kind of money do they have?

Behavior and nutrition in the winter season

And what does roe deer feed in winter? In such a difficult period, wild goats gather in small flocks of up to 15 individuals in forest tracts and up to 40 heads in fields. Winter groups include females with offspring, one-year-olds, less often adult males preferring a lonely existence. Such herds wander within the same feeding zones from year to year on the territory of up to 500 hectares. At a high level of precipitation, above 50 cm of snow, the groups are located in one place and consume the bark of coniferous trees: spruce, juniper and pine. Note that these weather conditions are the most severe and dangerous for the species.

Help from a person

The small size of the animals does not allow them to move freely in search of a more suitable food, and the low nutrient content in the bark of coniferous trees leads to the depletion of their body. It is for these reasons that many foresters in the winter with a high level of rainfall feed on special sites this animal. Roe deer consumes cabbage, turnips, carrots, other crops, as well as mixed fodder and grain. Foresters control the number of wild goats, since a strong increase will cause considerable damage to agricultural fields and large food competition of individuals of the species, and a too sharp decrease in the number of heads can contribute to the extermination of predators and hunters.

In winter, metabolism slows down in animals and the amount of food consumed is reduced because of a meager diet, which includes dry grass, tree bark, thin branches of shrubs. In addition, under the snow, these animals unearth the remains of nuts growing in the area, chestnuts, as well as lichens and moss. Roe deer in winter will never abandon the remnants of corn, potatoes, beets, as well as other crops that grow within the aft zone in previously unharvested fields. Thanks to the well developed olfactory receptors, the wild goat quickly finds fruits, nuts and other food even under a thick layer of snow.

Spring came…

What feeds roe deer in the spring? Since March, the herds of roe deer begin to disintegrate into small family groups, most often consisting of females and young. One-year-olds are looking for a free territory for themselves, which will then be fed all summer. Choosing a suitable zone for themselves, wild goats graze on it from year to year, guard their territory from others. The lonely mode of life of goats in certain zones allows to reduce the competition of the species among themselves and to ensure good nutrition of the roe deer.

In the spring, females are less active and cautious, since most of them are pregnant. The peculiarity of these animals is that the embryo can already be found in the uterus, but it begins to grow only in January. This adaptive feature of the species makes it possible to ensure a higher survival of the offspring, an increase in the consumption of fowl feeds coincides with the natural expansion of the ration. The birth of cubs occurs between April and early June.

What eats roe deer in the spring? During this period, fresh shoots of clover, alfalfa, other juicy herbs, as well as winter crops, fresh buds and shrub shoots are added to its diet.

Males of the wild goat on the contrary behave more actively during this period, aggressively mark their territory, using sweat glands located on the head, neck and near the hooves. Later, during the rut, they will allow up to 4 females to get their offspring to their territory. The same animals can mate for several years, but there are no special attachments among individuals of this species.

Summer

What does roe deer eat in the summer? This warm period is associated with lactation in females. As a rule, there are 2 cubs in the litter, except there are either primitive females or old females, whose strengths are enough to bear only one duckling. The first month the cubs hide in high grass and feed up to ten times a day. Females feed and rest separately from them. From the second month of life kids are beginning to feed themselves different types of herbs that grow close to their location. Wild roe deer feeds the cubs with milk after 2-3 months of life.

Summer is the most favorable period for the development of the population of this animal. The diet is so diverse that it includes more than 850 species of various plants. Very young juicy leaves and twigs are especially popular. More than half of the plants consumed by roe deer are dicotyledonous herbaceous, a quarter - accessible shrubs and stunted trees. The rest of the consumed plants are divided between monocotyledons, mosses, mushrooms and ferns.

And what does the roe deer eat? Of woody variety, the leaves of honeysuckle, oak, hornbeam, ash, birch, bird cherry, ashberry and linden are the most used for food. Favorite food is a herb with a high water content, for example, the white-bell and calamus, various cereals, plants rich in vitamins and minerals (cowbler, mountaineer, bug, sorrel and others). Roe deer, the photo of which you see in our article, will never give up the available fruit and berry crops (strawberries, blueberries, dogrose, hawthorn, apple and others), as well as various nuts and chestnuts. As a therapeutic prophylaxis, the animal consumes wormwood and other poisonous plants, for example, wolfberry, nightshade crops, belladonna and buttercup.

If something is missing ...

In the diet of roe deer, there are not so many plants that provide the necessary amount of minerals, to compensate for the lack of which the animals have to search for solonetz or drink water from sources with a high content of missing useful elements.

Autumn came…

Roe deer tends to gain more fat in the fall before winter cold, for this purpose, the remains of farm crops are not eaten by farmers, fruits and berries from trees and shrubs, seeds and mushrooms. A feature of the food behavior of these animals is that they do not eat the whole plant, but bite several leaves or twigs and go further.

Thus, they cause minimal damage to the environment and allow growing all types of plants in their chosen territory. Only in winter wild goats dig out by hoofs and eat the whole plant.

Conclusion

Now you know who such a roe deer is, the photo of the animal for clarity is presented in the article. We also talked about what this animal eats. We hope that the information was helpful to you.