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Antlers -- off the top of my head
Published: 11/26/2012 10:46 PM
Last Modified: 12/1/2012 10:23 AM

A reader sent e-mail today asking about deer antlers. I admit at first I thought he wanted to discuss nutrition and antler size.

Not so, he just wanted an explanation of the basics.

It's late tonight and I haven't asked his permission, so I'll withhold the name.

The following is his question and my response:

"Years ago (about 10) I was visiting with my father-in-law (now deceased). I sold merchandise to bait shops. I told my father-in-law that a Park Ranger was in the store and he told our group that the male deer got their racks from acorns and other rich food that they ate.
He looked at me and said - you are so DUMB that anybody can tell you anything and that you will believe it.
I have talked with a lot of folks and no one can answer my question.
Please answer my question for me.
Thank you,
...( That Dumb Fella )
Do Male Deer get their rack from acorns and other rich food - do they just grow - or what?"

Hi,
I'm sure you can find scientific write-ups online about antlers that are better, but I'll have a little fun here and see how much I can tell you off the top of my head.

First, you're not dumb. A lot of people don't know about antlers.

The first important thing to know about antlers, that a lot of people don't know, is that they are not horns. You'll hear guys like me say things like, "Whoa, check the set of horns on that monster!" We know they aren't really "horns," I guess it's just easier to say than "antlers."

Cervids like white-tailed deer, elk, moose and reindeer have antlers that are grown and shed each year. Antlers are primarily made of calcium and are true bone. Bovids, like cattle, goats, antelope (the African varieties, not pronghorns) and bison, grow horns. Horns are permanent and, while they grow from a boney protrusion on the skull, the horn itself is a permanent structure that grows as long as the animal lives and is primarily made of keratiin (similar to a fingernail).

The males of the Cervid species grow a set of antlers each year. The only exceptions to this are female caribou and reindeer. Those females also grow antlers --although typically much smaller than the males. All I know of that exception off the top of my head is that some biologists believe those Arctic animals evolved to grow antlers as a defensive strategy because they live in wide-open territory. It's interesting to note that in the winter the male caribou sheds it antlers in January but the female might hold her antlers well into the springtime.

Antlers really are quite remarkable, almost unbelievable when you consider a mature Yukon-Alaska moose can grow antlers that are 70 inches wide and weigh nearly 70 pounds in the space of four months. This probably explains why some cultures consider antler material an aphrodisiac or assign mystical or healing powers to them.

What male deer have that females do not are "pedicles" on their heads, which look like boney stubs or humps on the tops of their heads. Even a buck fawn has those protrusions by the time its first fall comes around. You'll hear them called "button bucks" because of those nubs on their heads.

The pedicle is covered by a remarkable material that reacts to hormonal changes in the male deer that are tied to daylight cycles. In the spring the antler will begin to grow under a furry-skinned membrane commonly called "velvet." A remarkable amount of blood flows through the velvet and the entire "rack" of the deer grows from about the month of April until the antler begins to harden and the velvet begins to dry up and is shed in late August or September. As the antler grows it is actually somewhat soft and can be damaged, sometimes resulting in bizarre antler shapes. Again, it's amazing to think those antlers can grow in a period of just 4 to 5 months, but that's what happens. As the antlers harden the velvet is shed and the deer goes through another hormonal change, obviously getting into the breeding cycle. As the mating season comes to an end in mid-winter the buck sheds its antlers, which break off at the pedicle, and the process begins again in the spring.

Something I remember from mammology class back at Iowa State University is our prof told us it would actually be possible to surgically transplant the pedicle material from the head of the deer to any other part its body and and antler would grow there. I think that's true and it's something I've repeated over the years, but honestly I've never read it anywhere else. Now I'm going to have to look that one up because you've got me wondering. It's been a long time since I took mammology.

Antlers have three purposes. They're used to compete with other males during mating season, they are a show item to attract the females, and they can be used for defense.

So what about the acorns? When I write about the health of deer you will often see that I mention "mast," which is a reference to both hard and soft mast food sources in the forest. Hard mast includes acorns and other nuts, soft mast is things like persimmons, poke berries and the like. Mast is an important food source for both male and female deer.

I've heard people, like your ol' buddy the park ranger, tell that joke about antlers growing because the bucks eat hard nuts like acorns. Part of the reason I do what I do is that there is enough confusion about our natural environment out there without help from the people who love to pass along the myths.

I should note that some hunters will say a good mast year means the bucks will have big antlers. That's partially true.

Three things contribute to antler growth: Genetics, age and nutrition.

Some large antlered bucks come from a line of bucks that had big antlers (and remember half those genes come from the doe's bloodline).

The buck's antlers also grow larger with maturity. Naturally a first-year buck has just a spike or a fork. By the time that same buck is 5 he's growing a large and impressive rack to show off his strength maturity and dominance to all the ladies. Also, as an individual equipped with the genetics that allowed him to survive several years, it allows him to kick the snot out of smaller bucks so he can pass along his superior genetics. By the time the deer is 7 or so his annual rack will begin to decline in size, but its rare to find a 7-year-old buck in the wild. They live a tough life.

Naturally if a buck has plenty of food -- especially high-protein acorns -- he likely will be in good health and he can put more energy into growing a big set of antlers.

I hope that answers your question, there was a bigger rack of knowledge off the top of my head than I first thought (sorry, couldn't resist).

Kelly


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The Outdoors

Kelly Bostian is an Iowa boy who developed a knack for writing about the outdoors as a college kid - way back when wild turkeys were scarce - at Iowa State University. He comes to Oklahoma by way of Alaska, where he worked 23 years as outdoor editor and later managing editor of the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. He comes to Green Country with two beautiful daughters, an extraordinarily tolerant wife, and an 11-year-old female black Labrador retriever named Tag, who knows she's actually the brains behind everything that Kelly does.

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