![]() ) Why do moose, deer, and elk shed their antlers? ( Watch moose fight in a quiet Alaska suburb. That’s why such duels are relatively rare: They come at a high cost. Bulls will also gore each other in the side or the rump, sometimes causing fatal injuries or weakening an animal to the point that it succumbs to a predator or the elements. Only when two males of equal size meet will they joust, placing their antlers together and then twisting and pushing to see which animal gains an advantage. Not only that, but a female may also perceive a male with imposing antlers to be more physically fit, and thus opt to mate with him, says Kantar. When vying for a female, a moose with smaller antlers may be deterred by a male with a large rack. Though many mistake antlers for weapons, they’re mostly instruments of reproduction. ![]() During the summer, when moose antlerogenesis is at its peak, their antlers can grow nearly an inch every single day. (Read how animals evolved horns, antlers, and other head armaments.)Īntler growth, or antlerogenesis, actually holds a Guinness World Record for being the fastest-growing tissue found in mammals. To become antlers, that velvet must eventually die and get scraped off by the animal, revealing the battle-worthy bone. And beneath that velvet are veins full of blood that carry calcium, phosphorus, and other nutrients to the growing bone beneath. (See photos of animals with killer headgear.)įor much of the year, antlers are covered in fuzzy skin, known as velvet. “They are highly vascularized tissue that rapidly grow from early spring to near summer’s end,” says Kantar, who responded in an email from Maine as he waited out a snowstorm while out capturing moose calves. In more than a few horned species, such as yaks, oryx, and duikers, females sport cranial weaponry, too.Ĭontrary to lifeless horns, antlers pulse with life and are even warm to the touch while they’re growing. Composed of keratin, a protein in our hair and fingernails, horns are dead, and simply grow slightly larger each year as new material is added onto the base. Horns, which adorn rams, goats, cows, and many other mammals, are part of the skull itself and never shed. Many people use the words horns and antlers interchangeably, but there’s actually a big difference between these headsets. Let’s dig into the biological marvel that are antlers and learn why animals bother growing them in the first place. “A bull grows his first set beginning with his first birthday, in general, and they grow in size and shape each year until around 11, when growth is minimal,” says Lee Kantar, moose biologist for the Maine Department of Inland Fish and Wildlife. The only exception is caribou, or reindeer, in which females also grow and discard antlers. ![]() Though it is not often witnessed by people, antler shedding, or casting, is a normal annual process for male moose, deer, elk, and other members of the Cervidae family, commonly called cervids. “Especially moose cows with their calves. “As far as being in the presence of moose, typically, it's a little sketchy,” says Landon Magee, a wildlife biologist at the University of Montana and a member of the Blackfeet Nation.
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