Roe Deer & Fawn

Friday lunchtime saw me on one of my regular local walks in Ken Hill Woods on the edge of Snettisham village. It was a cool grey day with a threat of rain in the air and I suspect as a consequence of the weather conditions the woods were devoid of people walking dogs.

As usual I entered the woods from the path that leads off the busy A149 and almost immediately picked out a Roe Deer in the bracken perhaps 50 metres away. Normally I'd wouldn't expect to see a Roe here, not because they don't occur in these woods, but because the heavy usage by dog walkers make of them, means that as the day goes on the more sensitive wildlife tends move away from the paths. I'd also expect a Roe Deer to bolt as soon as it saw me. So the fact that this one stared at me from the waist high bracken that carpets the woodland floor here was enough to arouse my curiosity.

As I changed position to try and get a picture of the deer, I noticed a movement in the bracken by its feet and was then delighted to see a small, spotty Roe Deer fawn emerge briefly from the bracken as it staggered after its mother moving deeper into the woods and away from me. I can only guess that when I first spotted the adult female it was feeding its fawn and that was why it didn't bolt.

Apologies for the not quite sharp images, there was next to no light under the canopy and I only had a rather basic DSLR and a slow old zoom lens with me.

Both pictures of Roe Deer in Ken Hill Woods, Norfolk