Why Do Roe Deer Bark? The Alarm Call Explained

What is the roe deer bark?

The roe deer bark is a short, gruff sound, a little like a medium-sized dog, often written as “bö” or “baow.” A startled deer may bark once and run, but often it barks repeatedly, a few seconds apart, sometimes for several minutes while moving away.

Many walkers in European woodland hear the bark without ever seeing the deer and assume a dog is loose nearby. The sound carries well through trees and across fields, especially at dusk and at night.

Both sexes bark. Bucks tend to have a deeper, rougher bark than does, though the difference is not always easy to hear in the field.

Why do roe deer bark when alarmed?

The main reason roe deer bark is to deal with possible danger. Scientists who study roe deer suggest the bark has several overlapping purposes:

• Warning other deer. A doe’s bark alerts her fawns and nearby deer that something is wrong, so they can freeze, hide or flee.
• Telling the predator it has been seen. Many prey animals signal to a predator that it has been detected. A lynx or fox that relies on surprise has less chance of success once the deer is alert, so it may give up.
• Testing an uncertain threat. Roe deer often bark most when they cannot clearly identify what they have sensed, for example a scent on the wind or a movement in the dark. Barking and watching the reaction may help the deer decide whether to run.

Barking is usually combined with other signals. The deer stands tall, stares toward the disturbance, stamps a front foot and then bounds away with long leaps.

The white rump: a visual alarm signal

Roe deer have a patch of white or cream hair on the rump. When a deer is alarmed, it flares out these hairs, making the patch suddenly larger and brighter. As the deer bounds away, the flashing white rump is easy for other deer to follow.

This visual signal works together with the bark. In thick woodland, sound travels where sight does not; in open fields, the bright rump can be seen from far away. Similar rump or tail flashes are used by other deer, such as the white-tailed deer of North America, which raises its white tail when fleeing.

When do roe deer bark?

Roe deer can bark at any time of year, but some periods are busier than others:

• At dusk and at night, when roe deer are most active and people, dogs and foxes are moving around.
• In spring and summer, when bucks hold territories. A buck may bark at a rival, often while scraping the ground and thrashing bushes with his antlers.
• During the rut in July and August, when bucks are excited and moving more.
• When fawns are hidden in May and June, as does are especially watchful.

A roe deer barking for a long time from the edge of a wood is often reacting to a walker or dog it can smell but cannot see clearly. Most roe deer are active around dawn and dusk; for more on deer activity patterns, see are deer nocturnal?

Other sounds roe deer make

The bark is the best-known roe deer call, but the species has a wider vocabulary:

Fawns call with thin, high squeaks when they want their mother. Does answer with similar soft calls, which helps the pair find each other in tall grass.

Do other deer bark?

Roe deer are not the only barking deer. The Reeves’s muntjac, a small Asian deer introduced to England in the early 1900s and now widespread there, is often called the “barking deer.” It can bark repeatedly for long periods, and in southern England its calls are often confused with those of roe deer.

Red deer hinds also give a short, sharp bark when alarmed, and fallow deer bark too. In the red deer, however, the most famous sound is the stag’s deep roar during the autumn rut, which is quite different from a bark.

What to do if you hear a roe deer barking

A barking roe deer is not a threat to people. It is reacting to you or to something else it has sensed. The best response is to stay quiet and still, keep dogs on a leash and let the deer move away. Watching from a distance, with the wind blowing toward you, gives the best chance of seeing roe deer behaving naturally.