Selection of bed-sites by roe deer Capreolus capreolus fawns in a boreal forest landscape

Bed-site selection by 19 radio-collared roe deer Capreolus capreolus fawns from seven family groups was studied during June-July 1998 in southeastern Norway. The habitat consisted of small agricultural fields surrounded by in dustrially exploited boreal forest. Within the forest, fawns selected bed-s ites that offered greater concealment, higher vegetation and more canopy co ver than random sites. No such selection was evident within the homogenous pasture on the fields. Bed-sites in fields offered greater concealment than those in the forest, where there were no detectable differences between st and age classes. Compositional analysis revealed a significant preference f or bed-sites to be located in forest, although fields and bogs were often u sed. Within the forest, stands of all age classes were used. The broad use of habitats may either reflect that habitats were equally good, or it may b e a strategy to increase the area a predator has to search in order to find a fawn.