In the morning of May 25 (at about 5.30 am) my dog and I were sitting in our observation spot which is located on a raised bank of the river and whence it is possible to look over a rather long stretch of the stream as well as the riparian shrub thicket on the other shore.
The shrubs are a stage in succession after the riparian forest had been cleared and the thicket is very dense and almost impossible for many larger species (e.g., humans) to walk through while smaller species (e.g., dogs) are caught in the tall nettles and goutweed as well as brambles.
As a result, it is a rather safe site for raising a fawn.
Between the river and the shrubline, there is a sandy band where riparian grasses grow (mainly, sedges).
As we were sitting there, I noticed a small head rising up from the grasses to reach the lower leaves on the nearby shrubs (which could have been bird cherries).
From afar, it was difficult to tell whether it was a fawn standing and foraging on the leaves or it was a lying-down doe that was browsing without standing up.
It seemed, however, from the proportions of the head (less angular, very large ears although ears also seem rather large on adults) that it was a fawn.
Its body (with the characteristic spots) was entirely hidden.
The reason why I was unsure regarding the age of the individual was that I could not recall how tall those grasses were in the spot where the animal was located and how high up the branches of the bushes were.
Unfortunately, due to the angle, the animal vanished without me being able to observe the action (which would have indicated whether it simply slipped off back into the thicket or whether it rose first from its bed).
The fawn would have been only two weeks old (as the births this year were timed in about the second week of May (ca. May 10).
Such younglings are known to begin taking solid food and I have observed quite small fawns foraging on forbs in a hay meadow.
Interestingly, in all of these cases (including this observation) the fawn was alone which suggests that, at this young age, it already had learned what browse/forage could be taken from earlier experiences with the mother (or perhaps also finding palatable items instinctively).
The leaves on the shrubs (especially, if it was bird cherry) are rather developed already and probably contain plenty of secondary metabolites but roe deer might be able to handle such levels of fibre and secondary compounds.
About half an hour after the roe deer had disappeared (never returning out in the open), we cautiously waded across (the water level in the river has dropped to mere centimetres in many places) and I checked the area.
The grasses were not tall enough to have hidden an adult standing up (they were perhaps 50 cm tall).
The shrubs had their branches very low but I could not approach close enough to check for browsing marks more specifically.
Importantly, there was no scraped bed (although an adult roe deer had scraped several beds a bit deeper in the thicket) and this suggested that it probably had not been an adult female lying down.
I do not know why exactly the beds are scraped.
Perhaps they offer thermal comfort.
Recently scraped off beds would be cooler at first (which could be advantageous while it is hot) but they might also gradually absorb body heat, thusly, maintaining a favourable temperature all through the resting bout (absorbing extra heat and giving off heat when it becomes colder)
Vegetation collects dew, as well, and, on bare ground, the animal would not get wet.
Additionally, vegetation contains invertebrates some of which are parasites (e.g., ticks, fleas) and bare ground might buffer against the invasion.
The lack of the scraped bed was probably the most important telltale sign that it had not been an adult doe but rather a fawn.
I believe that it is important to note that fawns forage on their own at such young age and that they are capable of consuming what were probably rather mature bird cherry leaves (high fibre content, many secondary metabolites).
It also means that the fawns, at this stage, might become bored waiting for their mummies and they might already begin exploring a bit.
This is relevant to another observation I have made, namely, that the roe deer bucks who had fallen very quiet (hardly any territorial barking) during mid-May, currently, have somewhat resumed the barking behaviour.
They are not barking intensely and the barking mainly occurs on the edge of the area where fawns might be hiding.
During early spring when the bucks resumed their territorial behaviour, they seemed to patrol precisely the areas where females would later give birth (which made me believe that the bucks are, in fact, not ensuring their late summer/autumn mating rights as much as they are preventing other individuals from depleting the resources and occupying the habitat patches their female would need during and after parturition).
Once the females were about to give birth, the bucks quieted down considerably.
There was a brief period when bucks were not heard barking at all or they barked in the open habitats verging the secluded, sheltered sites.
Currently, the bucks appear to give out some barking bouts (relatively brief, 1 – 2 minutes compared to ca. 10 minutes or more during spring territorial patrols) much nearer to where fawns might be hiding.
I believe that the bucks are letting the fawns know that they are looking out after them (without intruding into the female’s/fawn’s space not to give up their location and not to trample vegetation that is needed for hiding and foraging).
It could be a behaviour whereby the fawn is first accepted into the social group (formed by the mother and the father but possibly also by older sister(s)). (See Roe deer observation (May 26, 2024) – the whole family (two generations) involved in the raising of the fawn?)
While it is perilous to ‘hang out with the fawn’ (leaving adult scent near the fawn and disturbing the fawn-raising sites which are available rather sparsely in our contemporary times), the adults and subadults might vocalize to introduce themselves to the fawn.
If the fawn is becoming more curious, this could put the little on in danger (it is not yet wise to stray far from the hiding spots but the hiding spots can be very small, offering few opportunities for a more localized adventure).
Accordingly, inclusion into the social group even if only through hearing the adults, could serve as a distraction to keep the fawn busy with cognitive processes (and perhaps to remind the fawn that there is peril outside which the adults are guarding the fawn against).
Notes by Ieva 