Taking a look this week at some impressive anatomy and a stunning display from nature of majesty, prowess, form and function, the antler. Antlers are found on all members of the deer family (moose elk, deer, caribou and reindeer), and while generally found on males, the females of reindeer and caribou grow them as well. They differ from horns in that horns are permanent and made of a solid bone material, where antlers are shed every year and are made of a more porous type of bone.
The bone structure grows from a socket on the animal’s head known as a pedicle, like the socket of a tooth. As they begin to protrude from the pedicle in late spring, they are coated in a soft velvet skin that carries blood and nutrients to the bone as it grows. This growth happens at an alarming rate of up to and over an inch a day at its peak, making antlers the fastest growing piece of anatomy of any mammal. The blood flow that provides this rapid growth also helps to act as a sort of coolant as it carries blood circulation from the warmer body up into the antlers which act as a sort of radiator, cooling the blood with outside air before it circulates back into the body. In the case of moose, it is also theorized that the paddle formation so near to the ears aids in the animals hearing and perception.
Once the antler growth finishes in the late summer, the velvet is shed by the animal rubbing it off on trees shrubs and rocks, baring the stark bone so commonly known with the animals. The entire period of growth is controlled by light cycles, with the beginning of more light in the spring triggering the growth, and the tapering signaling the cessation.
The loss of the velvet also signals the onset of rut (mating) season, as the antlers are a physical display of the animal’s general health which is key during the rut as the females choose which bulls they will want to mate with. It was long thought that it was the bulls who chose their cows, but in fact the opposite is true, and the healthy, larger antlers coinciding with the battling that ensues among the bulls with said antlers is how the alpha cows of a herd make their choice. They also make great tools for helping to scrape out wallows for keeping cool in the summer and rolling in their scent during rut, as well as digging through snows to get to available food in the winter.
The spectacular bull seen in the image this week was found near mid-July of 2021 casually taking his evening graze in the Krumholtz and making a slow amble higher onto the alpine tundra. This rack is one of, if not the largest I’ve seen to date on any bull, and provides a stunning example of this amazing bit of anatomy. While I spent a good bit of time that summer and fall in the area, I never saw him again, and can only imagine his prowess once the velvet came off and he was ready to win the hearts of all the females on the mountain.
Originally published in The Mountain-Ear
