Roe deer, red deer, chamois: recognising hoof prints

Deer, chamois and ibex are even-toed ungulates. Only two of their toes carry the weight; they are covered by hard horny shoes, the cleaves. Behind them sit two small, reduced toes, the dewclaws. On firm ground they do not touch it. Only in soft ground, in deep snow or when the animal runs fast and the cleaves sink deeper do they print as two small dots behind the cleaves.

Because the cleaves come together at the front, every print is an arrow pointing in the direction of travel. When walking slowly, the animals put the hind hoof in or beside the print of the front hoof, and the trail forms a narrow line. When fleeing, the cleaves splay, the dewclaws print too, soil flies backwards, and the prints lie in groups of four with large gaps.

The species differ mainly in size and shape. The roe deer has small, pointed, sharp-edged cleaves. The red deer has large, broader cleaves with rounder tips. Chamois and ibex have hard rims and a softer, rubbery sole that grips on rock; their cleaves splay on steep slopes. Together with the habitat this usually gives a clear picture.

Measure the length of the print from the tip to the rear edge of the cleaves, without the dewclaws. As guide values, about 4 to 5 centimetres for an adult roe deer and 7 to 9 centimetres for an adult red deer. Fallow deer, which only occur in some areas, lie in between. Young animals of larger species can be as small as a roe deer – so take several prints and the habitat into account.

The most important comparison is with wild boar. In wild boar the dewclaws are almost always visible and sit clearly further out, wider than the cleaves. The whole print looks roundish, almost as wide as long. In roe and red deer the dewclaws, if you see them at all, sit closer together and more directly behind the cleaves.

In the mountains the place helps: prints in rocky terrain above the tree line are more likely to come from chamois or ibex. On alpine pastures with grazing animals, goats and sheep can hardly be distinguished. Then other signs become more important, such as hair on fences, droppings or sightings through binoculars. Stay honest with your identification and add 'probably' when you are unsure.

In May and June roe deer fawns often lie alone and motionless in tall grass. That is their protection: they hardly smell and stay still while the mother grazes nearby. Touching a fawn can cause the mother to reject it. So you walk on quietly at once and put dogs on the lead. More on this in the entry on injured or seemingly abandoned wild animals.

During the rut, for red deer roughly from September to October, stags are agitated and can react unpredictably. Watch bellowing animals only from a great distance with binoculars, never closer for a photo. On roads and at forest edges, also expect deer crossing at dusk.

In winter wild animals have little food and save energy. Every escape through deep snow can weaken them badly. Stay on paths, respect wildlife rest areas and signs, and do not follow a trail into resting areas. In the mountains also mind your own safety: you do not climb into steep or avalanche-prone terrain for a print.

Hoof prints are the most common large animal tracks in Central Europe. They are well suited for understanding direction of travel, gait and habitat use, for example where roe deer move between forest and field. With children you can find heart-shaped prints on a muddy forest path within minutes and work out the direction of travel.

Identification makes little sense on hard-frozen, stony ground or in deep powder snow where no cleaves can be seen. Ageing animals or reliably excluding livestock from a print does not work either. And anyone who follows a trail just to see the animal disturbs it – better to wait at a fixed spot and watch through binoculars.

Besides prints, roe and red deer leave many other signs. Bitten-off shoot tips on young trees are called browsing; because deer have no upper incisors, the edges are frayed. On thin saplings roe bucks rub off the bark in spring to remove the velvet from their antlers and to mark. Shallow hollows in grass or snow show resting places.

The chamois is a climbing artist: the soft soles of its cleaves stick to rock like rubber, while the hard rims grip on snow and ice. The ibex is even more tied to rock. Both need peace in winter because food is scarce and every escape through snow costs strength – another reason why the rule is: look, do not follow.