Cervus elaphus
Red Deer is the second largest deer species in Europe; only Elk is larger. The female, the doe, is smaller than the male. Female Red Deer are slightly less than 2 m in length, and weigh 60–120 kg. The stag is slightly more than 2 m long and weighs, on average, 140–150 kg, but can weigh up to 240 kg.
Red Deer are 120–140 cm tall at the shoulder, with a tail about 15 cm long. The coat is yellowish brown, but in the area around the tail is a light reddish yellow.
Red Deer have a reddish brown coat on the upperparts with a variable dark stripe along the back; the belly is whitish yellow. The winter coat is greyish brown and has longer, thicker hair. Older stags develop a mane of hair around the neck. From summer to spring, adult deer have a large, branched set of antlers with a forked ‘crown’ in the middle.
Red Deer live in herds in open woodland near fields, and also inhabit heathland and upland areas. The does and their calves live separately until the mating season in September/October, while the other adults gather in smaller groups. You will normally see Red Deer at dusk or early in the morning.
A younger male with does in dunes. SS.
An adult Red Deer in dense woodland. ME.
Red Deer tracks with imprints of the dew claws. LG.
If undisturbed, Red Deer move with a stride of about 1 m, and the hind foot is often placed in the print of the forefoot. If the animals feel threatened, they trot with a stride of about 3 m, or may even gallop and jump. The tracks of the hooves show evenly curved outer edges; the toe pads measure only one-third the hoof’s length.
Does’ hooves are 6–7 cm long and 4.5–5 cm wide, the stags’ 8–9 cm long and 6–7 cm wide, with a more rounded tip than those of the female, and the males’ footprints are sometimes more oblique. The outer part of the hoof is a little larger in the footprint than the inside. The prints of the front hooves are the largest and the most distinctly splayed. The faster the animal moves, the further apart the hoof prints. Where the tracks are clear on soft terrain or in the snow, you can see the imprints of the dew claws, especially those of the front hooves. The doe’s stride is 90–110 cm, the stag’s, 110–150 cm.
Red Deer footprints are the same size as those of an Elk calf, but the latter are more pointed at the front. Fallow Deer footprints are narrower and also more pointed at the front. Wild Boar footprints are wider than those of Red Deer and the stride significantly shorter; also, the dew claws can be seen more distinctly. Goat and sheep tracks may resemble those of Red Deer but are also significantly shorter. Herds of Red Deer often move in long columns, with only a few individuals side by side. In some regions like Norway and Scotland, Red Deer move from upland areas, which they frequent during summer, to lower-lying regions in the winter, and then move back up the following summer. During these seasonal movements, they follow specific, clearly marked trails.
During the rut, male Red Deer engage in combat. LG.
Red Deer scat. PB.
The fresh scat of Red Deer is black and slick, later becoming dark brown and dull. The scat is cylindrical, 2–2.5 cm long and 1.3–1.8 cm thick, and may be finely pointed at one end, with a small hole at the other end.
Red Deer scat is somewhat smaller than Elk’s and slightly larger than that of Fallow Deer. Scat is normally found in small piles in areas where the animals have stopped to eat or ruminate, but it can also be found as single droppings or in small quantities where the animals have been walking. In summer the scat more or less coheres and may resemble a small irregular cowpat.
Red Deer eat a lot of grass and other plants such as heather and blueberries; in summer, the leaves of trees and bushes as well as lichens and mushrooms are also grazed. They can consume crops such as rape and clover and may also unearth potatoes. In coastal areas they also eat seaweed. In zoos, or when in large groups, they can defoliate trees as far up as they can reach.
In winter they eat the shoots of conifers, deciduous trees, and bushes. Since they have no incisors, the chewed-off branches are frayed. Small trees can be deformed by deer feeding, until the tree grows beyond a height subject to such damage. Spruces can develop a thick, conical shape at their base as a result of frequent grazing (cf. p. 48).
Red Deer love turnips and will often pull young plants out of the ground to take just one or a few bites from each. They eat only the above-ground parts of a ripe turnip, in the process leaving distinct, wide grooves with their large lower front teeth.
In spring Red Deer peel the bark from young conifers, often removing large pieces or strips. If the bark is removed all the way around the trunk, the tree can die. If, in winter, the bark is still firmly attached to the tree, the marks of the lower front teeth can be seen as distinctive grooves on the bark; they are about 4–5 cm wide and often follow the vertical axis of the trunk. When a tree has been extensively grazed, it may survive only if the bark grows back.
A rutting Red Deer. LG.
Gnaw marks on a cast-off antler. LG.
Fallow and Sika Deer also feed on trees; the marks of the two species are difficult to separate. Elk gnaw marks are deeper and found higher on a tree.
An adult Red Deer has very large antlers. When they are fully grown in August, they remove the velvet by rubbing the antlers against bushes and young trees; in the process, branches are broken off, and the remains of velvet are visible up to a height of 120 cm. The deer may also rub against larger trees, and in so doing heavily mark the bark. It’s hard to find rubbed-off velvet since the deer usually eat it. During the mating season, deer also rub their antlers on trees. The antlers are shed in early spring, between February and May.
Red Deer like bathing and are good swimmers. In summer and autumn, they also wallow in mud along lake shores and on moors and even use small puddles, for example, pools formed by vehicle tracks. Red Deer rub off the mud against trees, which over time become smooth, and you will find hair on the trees and on ground nearby.
A wallow.
During the mating season, a Red Deer will scratch a hollow in the ground, an arena for rutting, in which it rolls the same way an Elk or Fallow Deer would. The hollow will acquire the powerful smell of a stag’s urine and semen. Near the hollow you will find trees on which the animal has rubbed itself. The rut occurs between the end of September and the beginning of October, a little before that of Sika Deer and about a month prior to the rut of Fallow Deer.
Damage to a fir tree caused by deer rubbing. LG.
