The Extremely Secretive Life Of The Rare Roe Deer | Our World

foreign [Music] ever since man could paint the walls of caves the deer has been the symbol of speed and Grace man has always been entranced by the deer his adorned his coat of arms with their figures and their antlered heads of hung in many a baronial hall even today the sight of a deer on the hill stirs out over civilized hearts perhaps he's what we all wish to be Monarch of the Glenn proud and free [Music] to most people dear are Highlanders found in the Wilds of exmoor or in their Mountain strongholds of Scotland few realize that one species the row is abundant up to the very doorsteps of Suburbia wherever there's a largest wood to hide it there's almost certainly a row not a hundred yards from these lay-bys the rose adapted by becoming much more secretive more than any other species it's a deer in hiding it's our smallest native deer the male or buck stands less than three feet at the shoulder a good size for so secretive a creature fossil Bones have shown that the road today is essentially unchanged from his ancestors of 500 000 years ago its shape and form seems so well adapted that alteration has been unnecessary for this immense length of time since Roe were row they have lived in forests usually broad-leafed Woodland eminently adaptable they can however change their lifestyle to suit many types of habitat until the beginning of the last century the row survived only in Scotland they were introduced in three places in England and they spread widely in both North and South now there's hardly a county in Britain without its quilted of role a prime example of the deer's success is Thetford Chase the road population here now numbering over a thousand derived solely from six deer introduced in the 1880s over sixty thousand acres in area Thetford is the second largest forest in England conifers divided by grass tracks or rides make up the bulk of the forest reflecting modern man's desperate need for usable Timber they also make an ideal habitat for the row Dawn and dusk are the best times to see Roe during the day they avoid Man by lying up in dense Bramble scrub but a Daybreak under Twilight They're Out Among the newly planted Furs and busy feeding their browsers and very Catholic in their tastes a row will eat what he can find where he can find it almost any plant is acceptable Buttercup Primrose and Willow herb are all taken even the flower heads there was even the row who became addicted to cigarette butts left by picnickers Woody plants are not emitted from the menu over 35 types of tree and shrub are eaten even the poisonous you doesn't seem to trouble the road not surprisingly they need to digest their food well their ruminants like cows and have to chew the cud D Roe are very cautious bitter experience has taught them to be aware of humankind scent is very important the rose knows is his first line of defense the ears come next look at their shape and size their elongated cups and collect and concentrate the Woodland sounds they even turn backwards the dear equivalent of eyes in the back of your head sight is the least important sense useful only at Close Quarters Roe have spent many generations in Woodland it seems they have a built-in method for looking between the branches even when they're not there such sensitivity makes studying the role very difficult marking the deer with a plastic collar is the most effective method yet devised for answering such questions as how they live and how far they travel but as Mrs Beaton might say first catch your dear in several parts of Britain catching and marking schemes are now in progress this particular catch is at cheddington in Sussex but the methods are the same everywhere a long net is strung between a series of six foot saplings in an area where the deer lived the net stretches for 500 yards or more when all's ready the row are driven carefully toward the net with their less than perfect eyesight the deer blunder straight into it foreign the deer aren't hurt at all by the net but the men must be careful Robux horns are deadly weapons once caught there's a rapid check on the animal's condition everything from height to weight the deer's brief captivity ends when the collar is fitted each is individually marked with its own color code this way every row caught can later be identified even from a distance after marking they are immediately free each animal in the net means the scientists can make a more accurate assessment of the deer's population and health in the wood this gives a better balance between the needs of the deer and the forest so far it's been found that most deer live about seven years they can be quite nomadic too one Roebuck traveled eight miles in a single day despite this they usually remain on a definite territory especially during the July breeding season or rut for some months before the rut the larger males have been enforcing their claim to an area of Woodland any Intruder is barked at even man the Bucks marked their territory on trees using scent from three face glands pouring the ground is used to discourage any rival buck the same function is said by a fraying display on a handy tree but it's a demonstration that can be disastrous for the tree Rivals sometimes even come to blows if these displays are successful the male next entices a female onto his territory then he must Court her courtship involves much following by the buck he's helped by two specialized glands on the female's hind legs they secrete a strong scent which allows him to Trail her easily the Buck's very persistent not even a fence will stop a male who's wintered a doe in heat but finding the dough is only the beginning the next step is a lot more energetic long hard chases across relatively open areas of forest although they're usually extremely cautious in their movements during these rutting chases the deer seem quite oblivious to any danger it's not known why the deer performed this rutting Chase perhaps it ensures only the fittest males meet or possibly it's a way of overcoming the female's natural aversion to close contact often Pursuit becomes very stylized and takes the form of ring running around a prominent object in this case it's an old tree stump but any obvious Landmark will do we're about to see a very rare sight the deer change from clockwise to counterclockwise running Behavior which has never before been filmed ring running often leads to a semi-permanent track or if two objects are used to a figure of eight these were ones held in dread by country folk as the work of witches Chase can last for miles and often does but gradually the dough becomes more receptive she stops and seems almost to tease the male as courtship progresses the dough eventually stands and allows the buck to serve her roe deer can mate as many as six times in five minutes then suddenly it's over buck and doe part company and the male takes no further interest in his mate or their future children territories are abandoned both sexes again take on a solitary existence browsing on the rich vegetation of Summer and late autumn but by the end of October the warm autumnal glow begins to leave the forest rides as the vegetation slowly Withers food gets scarcer and tastes a frost the lack of vegetation in the cold forces the road to band together in small family groups of four or five sometimes as many as nine deer have been seen in these many herds they'll stay this way for the next four months those that survive their greatest testing time is fast approaching the long Bleak months of winter a really bad winter can be a killer decimating the deer population with the twin blights of starvation and cold an icy shroud covers the vegetation and the deer are forced to find food where they may Birds too feel the pinch these birds and natives of China they're golden pheasants they were accidentally released into Thetford in 1880 and they've adapted surprisingly well despite such Arctic conditions the birds still seem to be able to find some food about this Woodcock gets a worm with such a dearth of forage the deer turned to any sort of plant or tree pine trees may now be eaten cropping the top of a sapling makes it useless to the Forester one reason why the deer population must be controlled but providing it is not too severe the cold weather serves a useful purpose the harsh conditions weed out the old and infirm and keep the species up to scratch spring when it arrives he says welcome to the row as it is to man the Robux antlers are now completing their regrowth encased in a sheath of skin or velvet all over the wood life begins to stir after the idling months of winter spring 2 is the time for births the female row has an extended pregnancy after mating the fertilized egg remains within the dough in a sort of embryonic hibernation only after five months does it begin to grow and develop the younger born five months later in late April the young deer or kids are able to follow the mother within four days of birth before this the female leaves them alone in the wood you don't often see a kid like this they're hidden away in the deepest area of scrub the mother can find with their camouflage coat they're very difficult to spot unless they decide to move mother returns each day to suckle the infant this strategy lessens the kids chances of being discovered by man twin births are common in Thetford Chase and this brings a danger in a normal year the deer population in the forest can increase by about one-third but a word of limited extent such as Thetford a baby boom of this size is a danger to both the row and to the forest competition for The Limited food supply can lead to starvation in the coming winter and more meals will mean a lot more scent making and fraying displays during the rut the extra damage to the trees can make the forest uneconomic there are no natural predators to limit the deer's numbers and no empty areas of forest left to colonize it's left to man to redress the balance sometimes control is accidental despite the signs up to a hundred Deer die each year on the roads in Thetford Chase usually it's the drivers to blame pushing his car so fast along the forest Lanes he's unable to avoid the deer standing by the verge occasionally the deer wandering to traps meant for other animals it's at times like these that the forest ranger needs a dog a dog's nose can detect deer that would otherwise be overlooked in this case it's too late the female Rose trapped her leg in a snare meant for a fox caught by the wire noose around her leg and Out Of Reach of water or food she's probably taking several agonizing Days to Die but man is not always to blame on rare occasions nature herself conspires against the role freak storms can snap the exposed Furs like straws any deer unfortunate enough to be underneath is doomed but all such accidental killing is indiscriminate fit and sick young and old alike are taken if the herd is to thrive responsible human control must take the place of natural selection this Roebuck is a superb example of his race look at his springy step the strong neck and above all his antlers they are large and have three prongs or tines that are the road deers trademark unfortunately not all males develop like this this antler collection is taken from deer shot at Thetford none show the normal three-timed antler all are misshapen with some it is due to environmental factors these antlers are frostbitten but with others the fault is genetic in every generation a certain proportion of bucks are born who grow deformed antlers if a freak like this were allowed to breed it's possible that soon every male in the forest would be in some way malformed as most forest rangers will tell you culling or shooting the deer is the least enjoyable part of their job but they know the dangers the deer face if left to their own devices it's a job that must be done each Ranger controls a given area of Woodland his own particular beat he works this area all year round and learns the features of each deer on his beat so he's in an excellent position to know which animal must be cold once again the Ranger's dog is useful he's only needed very occasionally when a deer is shot but only wounded then his sense of smell is invaluable the dog must be well trained it's no good in barking or snapping at flies if there's deer about he has to be able to wait silently sometimes for hours until a shot is taken most shooting is done from a high seat not only is there less chance of a deer scenting the hunter if he's 12 feet above ground but for some reason role very rarely look upwards this fine Buck has nothing to fear but here's the animal the ranger must cull his antlers have no tines and they Point almost backwards one shot and is a sudden painless end [Applause] it may seem harsh but in the long run it's for the best only by such constant management for the Next Generation remain vigorous without it the deer stock might easily be weakened the surviving bucks can now compete for females mate and sire strong healthy offspring in many ways the story of the Thetford row is a salutary one it gives the lie to those that think it impossible for man and any large mammal to coexist with careful management the forests can reap a double Harvest Timber and the inexpressible Delight of watching such beautiful creatures as the road thank you

Channel: Our World

Views: 11,535

Keywords: wildlife, wildlife documentary, natural history, earth, environment, documentary, documentaries, animals, nature, animal documentary, full documentary, nature documentary, planet earth, our world, wild animals, global warming, climate change, natural habitats, our planet

Id: 6RelGIK5Pg8

Length: 23min 50sec (1430 seconds)

Published: Fri Nov 04 2022