Roe Deer Pictures
Images of roe deer (Capreolus capreolus)
WESTERN / EUROPEAN ROE DEER PICTURES
The roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) is a medium sized to smallish deer species that has an average body weight of anywhere between 15 - 30 kg and is usually around 95 – 135 cm in length and 60 - 75 cm average height at the shoulder. The European / Western Roe Deer is distictly smaller than the Siberian Roe Deer. Its antlers are somewhat short and erect. Roe deer seasonally change coat coloration. In summer they are reddish brown while during the winter individuals can be greyish brown or even nearly black, while the underside is lighter and they have a white rump patch. The tail is small and only the males of the roe deer have antlers. Roe deer are distributed throughout Western Europe, from Spain to Turkey, and all the way up to Scandinavia and are also present in England, Scotland and Ireland. Roe deer are one of Britain's native deer species and have become the most widespread. Unlike other deer, they do not live in herds, but are most often seen as solitary individuals or as a family group of a mother and her offspring. Does gives birth to one to three fawns in May or June. Bambi the deer, from the children's books by Felix Salten, was a roe deer.
"First Snow", Roe Deer Picture
Original oil painting
image 24 x 48 inches
Original Sold
Available as a Roe Deer Print
"Alert Roe Buck" Roe Deer Painting
Original oil painting
image 12 x 30 inches
£1250 For Sale Currency Converter
"Thawing Snow ", Roe Deer
Original oil painting
image 29 x 39 inches
£6850 incl. frame For Sale Currency Converter
"Here comes Trouble", Chasing Roe Bucks
Original Acrylic
image 18 x 24 inches
Sold 29/11/12
Available as a Roe Buck Print
September Roe Buck (Gold medal head)
Original Oil Painting (Commissioned)
image 20 x 24 inches
£3700 Sold 10/1/17
"August Meadow", Gold Medal Roe Buck
Original oil painting
image 20 x 24 inches
£3345 Sold 25/7/16 Currency Converter
"Summer Grasses", Roe Buck
Original oil painting
image 19 x 23 inches
£3550 Sold 7/2/18 Currency Converter
Roe Buck in Velvet
Detail from an original acrylic painting
image 11 x 8 inches
Sold
Roe Buck & Autumn Birches, Crathie, Deeside
Original oil painting
image 10 x 14 inches
Sold
Roe Deer Antlers
Antlers arise from bony protrusions from the skull called pedicles. Roe deer shed their antlers annually, in autumn and regrow a fresh pair over the winter. The roe deer is the only known species of deer that regrows its antlers immediately after they are shed and during the winter. Antlers are made of solid bone, which develops under a covering of furry skin with a rich supply of blood vessels. At this stage the antlers are said to be in "velvet". Once growth is complete the blood supply ceases and the velvet breaks down. Roe bucks speed the removal of the velvet by rubbing their antlers up and down small tree stems causing "fraying". When the roe buck's antlers are free of velvet they are described as clean or in hard horn. The exposed antlers are hard bone and free of nerve endings. A typical mature roe buck has three short points per 20- 30 cm antler. They have prominent coronets at the base and good specimens have marked pearling. The most important part of the year for the roe buck is when they establish their territories at the end of April to May.
Winter Roe Buck (Capreolus capreolus)
Original oil painting
image 22 x 36 inches
Original Sold
Available as a Roe Buck Print
"Winter Shadows", Roe Deer
Original oil painting
image 22 x 36 inches
Sold
"Buck in Velvet ", Painting of a Roe Buck & Does amongst the Boulders
Original oil painting
image 18 x 32 inches
Original Sold
Available as a Roe Deer Print
"Winter Track ", Three Roe Deer Does on a Snow Covered Track
Original oil painting
image 19 x 32 inches
Original Sold
Available as a Roe Deer Print
Advice on how to observe wild roe deer
Unlike other species of deer in Britain, their territorial behaviour means that roe are not kept in deer parks, so to watch them you have to see them in the wild. Early morning and late evening are good times to see them feeding on grasslands just outside their woodland cover. Ask the advice of local naturalists, natural history societies or the county Wildlife Trust. Many roe habitats have public access, but on private land permission might be required from the owner. Get up early, approach from downwind and be very, very quiet to see deer and other wildlife.
Roe deer are widespread throughout Scotland and much of England, and in many areas they are abundant. They are increasing their range. They are spreading southwards from their Scottish refuge, and northwards and westwards from the reintroduced populations, but are not yet established in most of the Midlands or Kent. They have never occurred in Ireland.
They are generally found in open mixed, coniferous or purely deciduous woodland, particularly at edges between woodland and open habitats. Roe deer feed throughout the 24 hours, but are most active at the beginning and end of the day. The Roe deer is what is called crepuscular, whereas daytime animals are called diurnal and nighttime animals are called nocturnal, crepuscular means at dawn and dusk. The rump patch becomes white and expands to form a large disc when adult does or bucks are excited or alarmed and they emit a warning call similar to the bark of a dog, which is often repeated. With their powerful legs and attuned sense of balance they are a very fast and graceful and could easily escape slower predators, although natural predators, such as bears, lynx and wolves, are now extinct in Britain. Their diet is varied and includes buds and leaves of deciduous trees and shrubs, bramble, rose, ivy, herbs, conifers, ferns, heather and grasses. They seek out the young and juicy growth. Roe deer Lifespan is a Maximum of 16 years. Bucks rarely exceed 5 years and does 6 to 7 years. There is heavy mortality at and shortly after birth and during the first winter.
They exist solitary or in small groups, with larger groups typically feeding together during the winter. At exceptionally high densities, herds of 15 or more roe deer can be seen in open fields during the spring and summer. The roe bucks are seasonally territorial, from March to August. Young females usually establish ranges close to their mothers whereas juvenile males are forced to disperse further afield.
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Roe Deer Prints for Sale
All the roe deer prints are printed on canvas
Reproduced from an original roe deer painting
Please note: These European roe deer prints are produced following your order and are posted to you direct from the printers.
The prints are on a heavy weight canvas on a backing board and are protected with a matt laminate.
Reproduced from an original roe deer painting
Please note: These European roe deer prints are produced following your order and are posted to you direct from the printers.
The prints are on a heavy weight canvas on a backing board and are protected with a matt laminate.
"Here Comes Trouble ", Chasing Roe Bucks Print
Available as a limited edition print
Please note: These roe buck prints are produced following your order and are posted to you direct from the printers.
The prints are on a heavy weight canvas on a backing board and are protected with a matt laminate.
Please Note Our Printing to Order Service
We are now able to offer canvas prints of many of the images upon request. Printing is done to order and takes about two weeks to deliver. Please feel free to contact us if there are any paintings not already featured on the prints pages that you would like to order in this way.
Roe Deer Conservation
Roe deer are native to Britain, having been present since before the Mesolithic period (6000 to 10000 years b.p.). Forest clearance and over-hunting led to roe deer becoming extinct in England, Wales and southern Scotland during the 18th century but remained in wooded patches in Scotland. Several reintroductions during Victorian times and their subsequent, natural spread aided by an increase in woodland and forest planting in the 20th century has meant that roe deer have become widespread and abundant today. As they have become more abundant, their numbers have been controlled to limit damage to forestry and agriculture. Roe deer may now number as many as 500,000, and are increasing. Roe were initially mainly woodland deer, but in recent years the rise in numbers has led them to colonise more open areas such as open fields, rank heather and scrub. They can be quite bold in suburban settings.
Since the 1970s there has been an increased interest in exploitation of roe as a game species and for meat. As a result they are now covered by various Acts of Parliament which impose close seasons (when deer may not be hunted), firearms restrictions and controls on poaching.
Besides being controlled by man there is some predation of kids by foxes and in Scotland also by golden eagles. Many are injured or killed in traffic accidents.
Roe Deer Reproduction
The mating season, known as the rut, comes in late July and August. Peculiarly among British deer, there is a delay in the implantation of the fertilised egg in the female. This is believed to be nature's way of postponing birth until favourable weather conditions exist for the kids. Kids are born in the May or June following the rut. Twins are common and there are sometimes triplets. Newly born young can sometimes be seen lying among bracken, bramble or grasses. They have not been abandoned but simply left, camouflaged by their spotted coats. The doe will be close by and will return to suckle them several times a day.
The breeding season, known as the rut, is from mid-July to the end of August. During this time males defend their territories very aggressively. Behaviour includes barking, chasing, often in circles, fraying (rubbing antlers up and down tree bark) and scent marking young trees. Roe deer often leave behind in the forest trampled areas in the shape of a figure-eight. Called roe rings, they are made during courtship rituals when the male chases the female, and also by the young at play. Bucks fight other males by locking antlers and pushing and twisting. Fighting may cause injuries and occasionally one or both may die. Roe bucks are polygamous.
Although the egg is fertilised at the time of mating it does not begin to develop inside the female's uterus until several months later, in early January. Pecularly the roe deer is the only hoofed animal in which delayed implantation occurs. Females give birth, usually to twins, but sometimes to single kids or triplets, between mid-May and mid-June. The young suckle within a few hours of birth. They are regularly left alone, lying still amongst vegetation. Their coat, dappled for about the first six weeks, helps to camouflage them. If there are twins they are left separately. If you find a roe deer kid that you think might be abandoned leave it well alone and go away from the area immediately without touching it. Roe deer adults will often abandon their young if they sense or smell that an animal or human has been near it. It is part of the normal behaviour for the mother to leave her kids concealed while she goes off to feed. She will return to them later if they are left undisturbed and no-one is nearby. Young female roe deer can begin to reproduce when they are around 16 months old.
By 6-8 weeks old kids usually accompany their mother. They will begin to feed on vegetation at 3-4 weeks and are weaned at 3-4 months but will continue to take milk from the mother into the winter. Males and females reach sexual maturity and will mate at 14 months, although precocious breeding of females is not unknown.
More about Roe Deer via EXTERNAL LINKS
Further Reading
Roe deer by J. K. Fawcett. Published in 1997 by The Mammal Society, London and The British Deer Society, Fordingbridge.
Roe deer biology and management by P. R. Ratcliffe and B. A. Mayle. Published in 1992 as Forestry Commission Bulletin 105 by HMSO, London.
The handbook of British Mammals, edited by G. B. Corbet and S. Harris. Published in 1991 by Blackwell Scientific Publications, London.
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