Diet

The red deer is an herbivore. Its main food in summer and autumn is herbaceous plants: grasses, fruits and seeds, young shoots and leaves of trees, and in winter small shrubs – mints, twigs and bark of trees, bryophytes, blueberries, shoots of conifers. 226 species of food plants have been recorded, including 146 herbaceous, 51 woody, 8 lichen, 6 mint, 3 fern and 2 mushroom species.

Habitat

The red deer inhabits a variety of forests (preferably extreme, with abundant undergrowth and undergrowth) interspersed with clearings (farmland, clearings).

Important and interesting facts

Females live in flocks – families in which the older female plays the leading role. During the rut, the deer form mixed herds, led by the strongest male.

Only the stags have antlers, which start growing in the spring and are shed each year, usually at the end of winter.

The antlers grow quickly, growing about 2.5 cm per day. They are soft in the beginning and covered with a fluffy, velvety skin that protects the young antlers. In autumn, before moulting, the horns calcify and become hard. Compared to the doe, the crown of the antlers is made up of rather cylindrical antler tines. The antlers of males become more and more corrugated with each successive year.

The male has a very loud cry, comparable to the roar of a lion.

Information sources: latvijasdaba.lv, Wikipedia

Photos: Māris Kreicbergs