Roe Deer (5 Viewers)

[JoanT]

Hi,

Whilst out atlassing for the BTO survey early yesterday morning I saw a female Roe deer with 3 gavorting and frolicing fawns. I looked around and I was viewing through a telescope across to a distant field hoping to find Red Legged Partridge. There was no other female in sight but they were close to a woodland edge and I found a stag about 200 yards away.

What I wanted to know is could a female have triplets or do Roe deer operate a creche system like some other mammals.

Many thanks if you can help

 

[Mike Richardson]

My guess is the doe had triplets. Roe Deer often give birth to twins.

 

[MarkHows]

Triplets are quite common in roe deer, but not in other deer for some unknown reason, but I have never seen triplets.

Mark

 

[dunedin]

Would say the opposite from Mark,while not unusual for them to have triplets I would say its not common place, most of them have twins or singles, a lot probably has to do with food supply, in 50 odd years of stalking and photographing I have unforunately never come across triplets(have reared one after taking it out of a fox snare)
An article here on examinations of Roe deer, small sample but if triplets were common it would surely show up.
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/...9+July+from+10-12+BST+for+monthly+maintenance

 

[MarkHows]

Would say the opposite from Mark,while not unusual for them to have triplets I would say its not common place, most of them have twins or singles, a lot probably has to do with food supply, in 50 odd years of stalking and photographing I have unforunately never come across triplets(have reared one after taking it out of a fox snare)
An article here on examinations of Roe deer, small sample but if triplets were common it would surely show up.
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/...9+July+from+10-12+BST+for+monthly+maintenance

My wording was probably not quite right, trying to say that they do have them far more frequently than other species, but of course it is far less common than singles or twins.

Mark

 

[JoanT]

My guess is the doe had triplets. Roe Deer often give birth to twins.

Thanks for the reply. I now know that in the Handbook of Mammals that 5%
of Roe Deer have triplets.

 

[JoanT]

Triplets are quite common in roe deer, but not in other deer for some unknown reason, but I have never seen triplets.

Mark

Hi Mark,

I was obviously lucky as in my immediate birding area I don't even see Roe so a bit of BTO Atlassing slightly further afield and not only my first Roe Deer with not just one Fawn but 3. Have seen Roe Deer before

 

[dunedin]

Thanks for the reply Mark, and I might also add I must have been very unlucky, as you would have thought in all of those years I would have come across some triplets.
The one thing I did come across which was very unusual was a fox den with cubs 20feet up an elm tree.

 

[MarkHows]

Thanks for the reply Mark, and I might also add I must have been very unlucky, as you would have thought in all of those years I would have come across some triplets.
The one thing I did come across which was very unusual was a fox den with cubs 20feet up an elm tree.

I have read somewhere that having twins and triplets was hereditary, so it may be localised in some areas being much more prevalent and in others very rare.

Mark