Deer horns are a distinguishing feature that distinguishes these animals from other representatives of the fauna and gives their image beauty and nobility. What is the purpose of these solid outgrowths? Why and when do deer drop their horns? What is the difference between such outgrowths in different representatives of the Cervidae family? Answers to these and other questions will be presented in the article below.
Horns - the pride of deer
Deer horns are an element that only males of the Cervidae family can boast. But there are exceptions when in some subspecies outgrowths are present on the head of female individuals. These include, for example, reindeer.
Deer horns are not hollow, like in 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, drop their outgrowths on the forehead. After that, the animal has new horns. During their growth, they are covered with delicate and sensitive skin. It contains a large number of blood vessels that feed the horny bone and contribute to its strengthening.
How do deer antlers appear?
In the first year of life, a deer has two bulges, similar to buttons, on his forehead. They are called “legs” and are present on the head of the animal throughout its life. In the spring of these "buttons" horns begin to grow, which during the summer increase significantly in size. In the beginning there are direct processes that will branch in the future.
Young horns deer covers the skin. Therefore, they visually appear soft and velvety. During the fall, this peel dies and a bare bone opens. The horns of a young deer become similar to those that adorn the heads of adults. However, these outgrowths are distinguished by a significantly smaller size and number of processes.
Why deer horns?
The large branching horns of these animals have several functions, one of which is protection against enemies. Deer rarely use their outgrowths on their heads to butt. However, deer horns, which are impressive in size, have a terrifying effect on predators, and not every beast will risk attacking their owner.
Also, bone outgrowths on the forehead of representatives of the Cervidae family are often used as a device for the extraction of certain foods in the winter. For example, in order to enjoy a favorite reindeer moss, representatives of the northern subspecies dig snow precisely with their horns.
Another purpose of outgrowths on the deer’s head is to participate in fights organized by males during the rutting season. It is in this situation that deer use horns to hurt the enemy. In the mating season, the animal attacks its rival and acts with particular cruelty. The defeated male bleeds, and the winner, as a trophy, gets the right to mate with a young female.
When and why do deer dump horns?
Sometimes in the forest you can see the discarded antlers of a deer (photo below). The process of getting rid of old outgrowths can be compared with the usual moult, which is inherent in many animals. The horns on the heads of these animals are a living organism. Its cells grow, divide and die. In a certain period of the life of a deer, a ring is formed at the base of the horns that impedes the blood flow, which supplied them with nutrients.
The process of dropping solid outgrowths by deer begins with the fact that small fragments break away from them. The size of the following breakable pieces is getting bigger and bigger. And at some point, the antlers of the deer completely disappear. This occurs after the end of the mating season, which for representatives of the Cervidae family lasts from December to February. In spring, new deer grow horns. This process lasts two to four months.
To accelerate the dropping of horns, animals rub them on tree trunks, stumps, earth, logs or large stones. The older the deer, the earlier he tries to get rid of branching outgrowths. Indeed, over the years, it becomes increasingly difficult for old individuals to carry such a load on their heads.
Sometimes it happens that after this process, a deer has a rather large fragment of a horn on its forehead. This can cause discomfort, because the head of the animal will roll sideways and interfere with the freedom of its movement. In this situation, the male will try to get rid of the remaining element as soon as possible, for example by grinding it on a stone.
Red deer horns
Red deer horns begin to grow and develop closer to mid-April. Already in May, the length of antlers (young outgrowths) is about 10 centimeters. Throughout the summer, they continue their intensive growth and already in August reach their maturity. By the end of summer, antlers are exempted from the skin.
As for the age-related features of the deer horns of this subspecies, then 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, the branches will be added one per year until the moment the animal is 7 years old.
Red deer dump horns 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 about them. At the same time, the bark is damaged on the trunks, and specific marks appear that leave the antlers of the deer (the photo can be seen below).
The process of dropping outgrowths is influenced by the age and physical condition of the red deer. New horns begin to grow in 5-10 days after the old ones have departed.
Moose horns
The moose is the owner of huge branchy horns of a spade-shaped form. Such outgrowths adorn the heads of only males. The horns of an elk have an impressive 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 calves are soft. Their inside contains blood vessels, while the outside contains delicate skin and soft hair. If a young individual injures its outgrowths on the head, they bleed. In this case, the animal experiences pain. Later, the horns of a young moose become harder, branches appear on them. But outgrowths acquire the shape of a spade only in the fifth year of life.
Throughout August and September, the moose goes through the mating season, at the end of which there comes a period of dropping horns. 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 not be easy for them to move around with heavy horns covered with snow.
Horn of axis, reindeer and sika deer
Axis is a deer with a fork-shaped horns. It is characterized by incredible grace. Axis horns are three-pointed, have long stumps and are strongly bent back. The outgrowths have a forked trunk and a long frontal process. These deer get rid of horns in August.
In reindeer, both males and females can boast outgrowths on the forehead. The horns in newborns begin to grow at the age of two weeks. Young males not participating in the chase 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 drop outgrowths on the head after calving, that is, in mid-May - June. New reindeer horns begin to form in August, and already in September the fur comes off them.
Sika deer are the oldest subspecies of the family Cervidae, and therefore their horns have a simple structure. The outgrowths on their head lack a second supraorbital process and crown. Sika deer horns have no more than five branches. Outgrowths on the forehead of these animals are present only in males.
Why do deer cut horns?
In reindeer husbandry, antlers are cut from the head of live deer. These are young deer horns that have not yet had time to ossify. Frontal antlers are extracted from the heads of slaughtered animals, which must be cut off with a fragment of the skull.
Pantocrine is made from the young horns obtained. It is a medicine that affects the nervous system and is used to treat various diseases.
Ripe antlers are characterized by the presence of divided branches that have swollen, drop-shaped ends. The surface of the processes should not be ribbed. Antlers of necessary ripeness are very highly appreciated. If young deer horns are not grown enough, their healing properties are not fully disclosed. The same applies to the overripe antlers, who have already acquired a ribbed structure and pointed ends.
After cutting the young horns, they are freshly sent for processing or canned for later use.
