Animals in autumn – how they prepare for winter: Red deer

Our Nature Watch guide, Susi, explains in a short series how each animal copes with the harsh conditions of the cold season.

Appearance
Red deer belong to the antlered hoofed game, and only the stag bears antlers. Red deer can live to be around 20 years old. It sheds its coat twice a year: reddish-brown in spring, greyish-brown in autumn.

Habitat
Red deer require large, contiguous woodlands. They particularly favour mixed woodlands, as the food supply is greater there. It is a herd animal; however, the sexes live separately. Wallows (mud pits) are of great importance, as the deer need to bathe in them for grooming and to cool down.

Reproduction
The rutting season (mating period) takes place from late September to early October. The impressive bellowing of the stags can be heard from far away. In May or June, a fawn is usually born, which is suckled until autumn. The fawn’s spotting – the white speckles – remains visible until around August. The fawn stays with its mother for about a year.

Special features
Antlers are shed from late February to April. New antlers are formed immediately each year and grow back fully within 4 to 5 months. When the deer rub off the velvet (scraping off the ‘antler bark’), the bark and branches of young trees are often damaged. If the deer are disturbed, bark-stripping damage can also occur: in this process, the bark is stripped from the trees using the lower jaw. The natural migration between summer and winter ranges has been disrupted by road construction and settlement, and as a result, red deer remain in regions where they would not normally choose to stay. There, hunters help them through the winter.

The first snow has fallen – hedgehogs, dormice and marmots are in a deep sleep. Red deer, however, do things differently: much like chamois, they slow their metabolism down so much that their body’s own “heating system” runs on a low flame. The animals often remain motionless in one spot and fall into a kind of hibernation.

As food is scarce in winter, the animals’ rumen (stomachs) adapt to the conditions and hold 60 per cent less than in autumn. If the animals are disturbed whilst resting, they need more energy to be able to flee. This atypical behaviour completely disrupts the red deer’s metabolism – it has to be ramped up again and the body’s heating system reactivated. However, energy sources such as grasses, herbs and lichens are scarce in winter, so the red deer have no choice but to nibble on young trees – much to the annoyance of the foresters.
Psst, winter is rest time for red deer!

Would you like to experience these animals in the wild for yourselves? Guided Nature Watch walks on snowshoes or on foot offer you plenty of opportunities to do so! More information and booking here

Photo credits: (c)Alpenpark Karwendel