Deer antlers are a distinctive feature that distinguishes these animals from other representatives of the fauna and gives their image beauty and nobility. What is the purpose of these hard outgrowths? Why and when do deer shed their antlers? How do such outgrowths differ in different representatives of the Cervidae family? The answers to these and other questions will be presented in the article below.
Horns are the pride of deer
Deer antlers are an element that only males of the Cervidae family can boast of. But there are exceptions when, in some subspecies, outgrowths are also present on the head of female individuals. These include, for example, reindeer.
Deer antlers are not hollow, like those of cows, but have a cellular structure. By the number of processes on them, you can determine the age of the animal. After all, the number of branches and the size of the horns themselves increase from year to year.
Adult representatives of the Cervidae family annually after the end of the rut, that is, the mating season, shed their outgrowths on their foreheads. After that, the animal has new horns. During their growth, they are covered with delicate and sensitive skin. It contains a largethe number of blood vessels that nourish the horny bone and help strengthen it.
How do deer get antlers?
In the first year of a deer's life, two button-like bumps grow on his forehead. They are called "legs" and are present on the animal's head throughout its life. In the spring, antlers begin to grow from these “buttons”, which significantly increase in size during the summer. At first, straight processes appear, which will branch out later.
Young deer horns are covered with skin. Therefore, they visually appear soft and velvety. During the autumn, this skin dies off and the bare bone is exposed. The antlers of a young deer become similar to those that adorn the heads of adults. However, these outgrowths are significantly smaller in size and number of processes.
Why does a deer need antlers?
The large branched horns of these animals have several functions, one of which is protection from enemies. Deer rarely use their head protrusions to butt heads. However, deer antlers, which are impressive in size, have an intimidating effect on predators, and not every animal will dare to attack their owner.
Also, bone outgrowths on the forehead of representatives of the Cervidae family are often used as a device for obtaining one or another food in the winter. For example, in order to feast on their favorite reindeer moss, representatives of the northern subspecies dig snow with their horns.
Another purpose of the outgrowths on the head of a deer is to participate in fights that males arrange during the rut. It is in this situation that deer use their antlers to hurt the enemy. In the mating season, the animal attacks its rival and acts with particular cruelty. The defeated male bleeds to death, and the winner gets the right to mate with a young female as a trophy.
When and why do deer shed their antlers?
Sometimes in the forest you can see discarded deer antlers (photo below). The process of getting rid of old outgrowths can be compared with the usual molt, which is inherent in many animals. The horns on the head of these animals are a living organism. Its cells grow, divide and die. During a certain period of a deer's life, a ring forms at the base of the antlers, preventing the blood flow that supplied them with nutrients.
The process of shedding hard outgrowths by deer begins with the fact that small fragments break off from them. The size of the next breaking off pieces becomes larger and larger. And at some point, the antlers completely fall off. This occurs after the completion of the mating season, which in representatives of the Cervidae family lasts from December to February. In spring, deer grow new antlers. This process takes two to four months.
To speed up the shedding of horns, animals rub them against tree trunks, stumps, earth, logs or large stones. The older the deer, the earlier he tries to get rid of branched outgrowths. After all, over the years it becomes harder for old individualswear such a load on your head.
Sometimes it happens that after this process a rather large fragment of the antler remains on the deer's forehead. This can cause discomfort, because the animal's head will roll to one side and interfere with its freedom of movement. In such a situation, the male will try to get rid of the remaining element as soon as possible, for example, grinding it on a stone.
Red deer antlers
The antlers of the red deer begin to grow and develop closer to mid-April. Already in May, the length of the antlers (young outgrowths) is about 10 centimeters. Throughout the summer, they continue their intensive growth and reach their maturity in August. By the end of summer, the antlers are freed from the skin.
As for the age characteristics of the deer antlers of this subspecies, the deer of the first year of life have “matches” or “hairpins” on their heads, the length of which reaches 15 centimeters. Over the next twelve months, 3 shoots appear on the horns of red deer. In the future, branches will be added one per year until the animal is 7 years old.
Red deer shed their antlers every year. This occurs in March-April, less often in February. Often, before getting rid of old outgrowths, males walk around trees and rub their heads against them. At the same time, the bark is damaged on the trunks, and specific marks appear that are left by deer antlers (photo can be seen below).
The process of dropping outgrowths is influenced by age and physical conditionnoble deer. New antlers begin to grow within 5-10 days after the old ones have gone.
Moose horns
The elk is the owner of huge spade-shaped branched horns. Such outgrowths adorn the heads of males only. Elk antlers are impressive in size. After all, their weight is up to 20 kilograms, and the length can reach one and a half meters.
The horns of young moose are soft. Their inside contains blood vessels, and outside - delicate skin and soft wool. If a young individual injures its outgrowths on its head, they bleed. In this case, the animal experiences pain. Later, the horns of a young elk become harder, branches appear on them. But the outgrowths acquire the shape of a shovel only in the fifth year of life.
During August-September, the mating season is held by moose, after which the period of shedding the antlers begins. Animals get rid of old outgrowths at the very beginning of the cold period. This greatly facilitates the life of moose, because in winter it would be difficult for them to move around with heavy antlers covered with snow.
Axis, reindeer and sika deer antlers
Axis is a deer with forked horns. It has incredible elegance. The horns of the axis are three-pointed, have long stumps and are strongly bent back. The outgrowths have a forked trunk and a long frontal process. These deer shed their antlers in August.
In reindeer, both males and individuals can boast of outgrowths on their foreheadsfemale. Horns in newborns begin to grow as early as two weeks of age. Young males not participating in the rut get rid of hard outgrowths on the forehead in January. And adult males do this at the end of the mating season, which begins in September-November. Females shed outgrowths on their heads after calving, that is, in mid-May - June. New reindeer antlers begin to form in August, and the fur comes off as early as September.
Sika deer are the most ancient subspecies of the Cervidae family, and therefore their antlers have a simple structure. The outgrowths on their heads lack the second supraorbital process and the crown. Sika deer antlers have no more than five branches. The outgrowths on the forehead of these animals are present only in males.
Why do deer cut their antlers?
In reindeer farms, antlers are cut from the heads of live reindeer. These are young deer antlers that have not yet had time to ossify. Frontal antlers are mined from the heads of slaughtered animals, which must be cut off with a fragment of the skull.
Pantocrine is made from the resulting young horns, a medical preparation that affects the nervous system and is used to treat various diseases.
Ripe antlers are characterized by the presence of separated branches that have swollen teardrop-shaped ends. The surface of the processes should not be ribbed. The antlers of the required ripeness are highly valued. If young deer antlers have not grown enough, their healing properties are not revealed infull strength. The same applies to overripe antlers, which have already acquired a ribbed structure and pointed ends.
After cutting the young horns, they are sent fresh for processing or preserved for later use.
Conclusion
Deer horns are an element that makes the image of this animal more beautiful and nobler. Hard outgrowths on the head of representatives of the Cervidae family are present mainly in males, although there are exceptions. Deer use their antlers to fight for young females. Also, the outgrowths on the forehead of these animals help them defend themselves from predators and get food from under the snow. Elk and deer antlers fall off when the mating season passes. This happens at the end of winter - beginning of spring. And over the next two to four months, new outgrowths appear on the deer's head.
