TINY LIVING December The Tiny House & Green Living Inspiration Place

Photograph by WildMedia
The Roe
and the Red
Of the six different types of deer in the UK,
only two are native Brits, the Roe and the Red deer.
These deer have roamed the hillsides of Great Britain
since ancient times, and their meat often graced the
tables of medieval kings.
The Roe have a lovely coat of deep auburn, which
turns greyish in the winter months. Unusually, they do
not have tails, and their antlers only grow to include
three rather small prongs. Light, quick and agile,
they usually stand no more than three-quarters of
a metre tall when full grown. Their soulful black eyes
can melt the heart! You will most likely find them
in the forests throughout the British Isles, with the
exception of Northern Ireland.
The Red deer are a bit more flamboyant than their Roe
cousins, with a showy rack of antlers that can span
13
a metre in width. They’re also the largest land
mammal in Great Britain. Their coats are more of
a reddish brown in the warmer months, with it
fading to a greyish brown in winter. They too prefer
woodland forests, especially in Scotland, but they
are also frequently seen in the Pennines of northern
England. Only about 500 are thought to make their
home in Wales.
Both populations are doing well in Great Britain
and have remained relatively stable in numbers for
the last 10 years. They are an ongoing study in how
man and animal must learn to live together, as they
have increasingly ventured into more urban areas.
The British Deer Society has a wealth of information
on all deer species of Britain, and help to manage the
populations with the best outcome for all. Visit their
site at www.bds.org.uk