Roe Deer in Barnes Street, Barrhead

There was a roe buck in Barnes Street at 5am this morning. He was in his summer pelage – an amazing, bright rust red and he was coming into antler. He was in the small lawn just above the banks of the Levern Burn eating foliage – possibly nettle. He looked quite young and it’s possible that he is still looking for his own territory. His mum is likely to have just given birth or is about to and it’s likely that she kicked him out as she can’t look after him and her new baby.

Between April and June young roe deer that have been made homeless this way may gather in small groups for safety. These are nicknamed ‘coffee bars’.  I’ve seen three of them at a time around this time of year in some kind of dispute where one seemed to be fending off another two. My theory was that these were three youngsters trying to claim a territory or it was a mother chasing off some youngsters.

He ended up disappearing up Barnes Street towards Kerr Street. I hope he’s okay. There’s a way back into the woods at the very top of Gertrude Place so hopefully he has gone back in there.

This is actually the second time I saw a roe deer in this location. I had thought at the time that this would have been a one off so it was a bit of a surprise to me this morning, only a few weeks later to see it happening again.

I have mixed feelings on this. I love seeing Roe Deer but the fact that they are wandering our streets unnerves me. There are too many idiots (possibly with vicious dogs) who would do them harm just for fun. Then there’s the risk from road traffic. It could also be a sign that man is leaving them with nowhere else to go and they are being forced to wander into our towns and cities. It won’t be long before some heartless individual decides they want to ‘control’ them. However, I’d suggest that it’s the humans who need to be controlled, not the deer.