Snap-Crackle-Pop, Deer Sheddings: Naturalist Notes
We are right in the middle of the winter season. Snow has accumulated, noises in nature are often still, and some of the only signs of animals are from the tracks they leave behind. During this time of year, one of my nature-themed, outdoor, winter goals is to one day come across a specific pair of bones from a specific group of mammals whilst taking a walk in the woods.
There are 53 species of deer currently found around the world, and they are all part of a group known as the Cervidae family (Cervus being the Latin word for “deer”). Deer are unique amongst mammals because they possess what are called antlers. Antlers are bones that grow, extend, and split from the skull every year. When in the process of growing back, they start off soft, like velvet, and rounded at the tips, as it takes time for the bones to harden. Once they do, the deer sheds the velvet layer off their antlers and the process begins again. Not every deer species has antlers, however. The water deer from Asia seems to have traded antlers for long tusks! Imagine, the deer that branched off from the others thought to itself “Having antlers is overrated, I want to be a vampire instead”.
Although antlers are big and pointy, they are not considered to be horns. An animal that has horns (think cattle, sheep, goats, antelope) are not cervids, but what we call bovines. The horn of a bovine consists of a thick coat of keratin - the same protein responsible for finger and toenails - and a bony core only found within the center. These horns should remain on the animal for life, and not shed annually. However, as is the case in many things science, there tends to be exceptions to rules. In this case, the pronghorn antelope has the ability to lose their horns and grow back every year, like deer with their antlers.
Let us take a look at some deer species found throughout Michigan and North America and learn more about what makes their antlers unique:
Of all the deer found in the Americas, white-tailed deer are championed as being both the most abundant, and having the widest range. Some may think that the age of a deer correlates to how many points are on each antler. In reality, the size and shape of antlers every year is determined through a combination of factors that includes age, genetics, and nutrition. Amazingly, female white-tails may also display antlers if they experience significant hormonal changes while in their environment. The current odds of a doe having antlers are approximately 1 in 10,000. For this species of deer, antlers are shed in the winter, and grow back in the late spring.
Mainly found within the Rocky Mountains and Central Asia, Elk (also called wapiti) are famous for the male's bugle-like call. When their antlers are in development, they grow about an inch a day. Growing ends in the summer, at which point they will proceed to shed the velvet layer of their antlers. The velvet layer is often shed by having a deer rub or scrape against a tree, wearing down the tree which leaves a lasting clue for hikers and outdoor enthusiasts to find. With their newly hardened antlers, a deer, such as an elk, can use them in a couple of ways. The biggest use is to compete with other males in hopes of having a mate for their breeding season, called the rut. Do you have to leave the state in order to find an elk? Not necessarily! There are some populations in the northern half of the Lower Peninsula that still roam freely to this day.
The largest and heaviest of the cervids, the moose, enjoy the mixed and boreal forests in much of northern North America, Europe, and Asia. When deer species get beyond the size of your everyday white-tail, they are no longer referred to as “buck and doe”. Instead, they are classified as “bull and cow”. Moose antlers are unique because their antlers are described as being palmate. In the zoology field, palmate means that the space between the points, or prongs, are partially filled in, forming a broad, flat surface. The fallow deer in Europe is another example of a deer with palmate antlers. Where there are big deer, there are also big antlers! The current record for the largest moose antlers ever found is over 6’3” across. Like the others, a moose will drop their antlers in the winter and regrow them in the spring. The antlers that are left behind do not stay permanently. Birds, rodents, and other animals will chew on shed antlers, as they are full of protein and nutrients.
Caribou, also called reindeer depending on which part of the world you are in, are a unique cervid species that are unlike others. Even though they are smaller than the moose, they have the largest antlers if we are comparing in relation to body size. Found in the far north arctic tundras of North America, Europe, and Asia, both males and females grow antlers, but each shed their antlers during different times of the year. For males, shedding takes place in November, shortly after their October mating season. Females, however, will keep their antlers until after their calves are born, which happens around the month of May. So who is going to break it to Santa that all of his reindeer pulling his sleigh are female?
Before you go, check out the gallery of cervids below that are all unique in size and antler!
White-tail buck overlooking a hill at the Johnson Nature Center.
Bull elk in velvet resting on high ground in Rocky Mountain, NP.
Female moose with calf at Rocky Mountain, NP.
I could not find a caribou in any of my photo galleries, so here is a drawing of what a caribou would look like.
Submitted by Zach Mork, naturalist, January 2023