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This article by the late Tom Pirrie, former Chairman
of the Wildlife Club, was published in the Summer 2005 edition
of the Newsletter. It is the 1st in a series of four articles.
We are very fortunate to live in an area that is blessed
with an abundance of wildlife. We have four species of wild
deer which are widespread throughout the region and with
a little effort can easily be watched. The best times of
the day to see them are probably the first two hours after
the sun rises in the morning and slightly less, about an
hour and a half before the sun sets, these two periods are
when they are usually most active, but they can be seen
at anytime during the day.
1-Roebuck in summer 2-Rear view of buck 3-Doe 4-Kid
I am often asked where can I go to watch them and my answer
is always just go to your nearest area of woodland or forest
and sit down and wait for them to come to you, if you start
walking around they will see or smell you long before you
see them and will be gone before you even know they were
there. All of the small woods around Moffat have deer in
them at sometime, as do many of the gardens in the town.
These local deer will normally be Roe Deer, a small deer
about 2-3 feet high, the bucks having antlers with each
antler having one or two tines off a central antler.
The bucks mark out their area of the wood by scraping branches
and bushes and scent marking, this territory is fiercely
defended against all other deer, and once the young are
old enough the males will be the first to be excluded and
chased out of the territory by the male who will consider
it a threat to his sex life, the doe's will wander off a
little later to find a mate and start her own family. Roe
normally have one or two fawns each year, these are left
by the doe for long periods during the day and she will
come back frequently to feed them. This is the most hazardous
period in their lives, but nature has given them a simple
but effective defence, they have no smell, I have seen fawns
lying where their mother left them, within three feet of
human beings and their dogs, neither the dogs or their masters
knowing they were there. If you are lucky enough to find
a fawn, admire it from a distance, do not touch it because
by touching it you will probably sign it's death warrant
and do not pick it up thinking it has been abandoned. Many
fawns are killed each year by well meaning people who, through
ignorance pick them up and cover them with the smell of
humans, when the mother will only be a short distance away.
 The
doe as soon as it is safe will probably go to her fawn,
but will immediately smell the human scent and will be very
wary, and she may even abandon her fawn. The Roe doe's come
into season shortly after giving birth, and usually rejoin
the buck three to four weeks later. Although the doe will
mate with the buck at this time a delayed implantation occurs
which delays the pregnancy for almost three months, this
means she is carrying next years fawns for about eleven
months of the year. The Roe is the most numerous of our
wild deer, and were classed as vermin by the Normans, while
the Red and Fallow are "Beasts of the Chase". They are still
classified as vermin, but I have spent many hours watching
these beautiful deer and I hope they will continue to share
this land with us for many years to come.
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