Hot Weather and Roe Deer in Swimming Pools

The periods of dry heat that occur during the summer season cause countless water sources used by wild animals in fields and woodlands to disappear. But they still need to drink in order to survive, which leads them to search for new watercourses and places where they can do so. Swimming pools at homes located near natural areas become an all-too-common option for wild boar, deer, roe deer, birds, reptiles and countless animal species.

On this occasion, a female roe deer raising two fawns has jumped into a swimming pool she found near her habitat. The sense of smell of Capreolus capreolus is capable of detecting the presence of water. In fact, it is the most important sense in its daily life, used to locate predators, other roe deer, feeding areas or to recognise all kinds of scent signals in its territory.

And although water gives off very few odour molecules, these animals’ sense of smell detects the humidity in the air, the fresher vegetation around it, the smell of mud and other scents associated with the area around the water.

“Another deer rescued from a swimming pool,” a German media outlet reported just a week ago when publishing the latest case involving one of these cervids, a young male trapped in a swimming pool in Oppen, which was rescued and returned to the wild by local firefighters.

Why do roe deer fall into swimming pools?

These images, which are repeated so often during the summer, can be explained by these animals’ learning method. Roe deer, wild boar, deer and many other species are accustomed to entering streams, brooks, rivers and other waterways from banks that allow them to get out just as easily. When they reach a swimming pool, that type of bank usually does not exist, causing them to fall into the water without the possibility of getting out because of the high, smooth walls that keep the water inside.