White Tail Buck

Posted by Twelvebit (Victoria, United States) on 6 August 2008 in Animal & Insect and Portfolio.

VR Lens Trial 3

Taken at Goose Island State Park.

Update on antler development, motivated by the PK's comment about this buck's fuzzy antlers.

From the Texas Parks and Wildlife Website

To understand just how antlers develop, let's follow the growth cycle of a normal, well-fed, male white-tailed deer. As we join him during the breeding season, his antlers are fully developed – the hard, polished weapons of a lusty warrior competing with other bucks for available females. The antlers are solid calcium, so no bleeding occurs if one of the points (tines) is broken during combat. When you consider the impact on the tines as the bucks clash together and thrash around, it is surprising they are broken so seldom. Breeding hormones keep the antlers firmly attached to the head; however, as the breeding sea-son draws to a close, production of this hormone stops. The bone at the antler base (pedicel) then begins to erode or wear away, and the antlers drop off. Shedding takes place from mid-January to mid-April, but most mature bucks in good physical condition have dropped their antlers by the end of February. Young bucks usually are a little slower. Once a buck is full-grown he will normally establish a pattern of dropping his antlers at the same time each year.

When the antlers are shed, a slight amount of blood oozes from the spots where they were attached. Scabs quickly form over the raw pedicels, and before long only scars remain to mark where the antlers were. Once the pedicels are healed, new antler buds form, and the buck begins growing next year's rack. This growth is initiated by the buck's pituitary gland, which is stimulated by increasing hours of daylight. Growth is extremely rapid and requires a tremendous amount of food. If the buck is able to find enough high-quality, protein-rich browse to satisfy his increased appetite and antler-growing needs, he can produce a full rack in about three months.

Since young deer, like teenagers, are still growing and developing their bodies, the majority of their nutritional energy is directed toward body development, and only the leftover energy goes to antler development. For this reason, a young buck's antlers are small and may have only one fork. Mature bucks need less nutritional energy to maintain their bodies, so they have more energy available for antler growth. They can produce a large rack with many points, or tines, each year. Deer that grow antlers with no forks or points are called spike bucks.

From the time the new antlers be gin growing from the pedicels until they reach their full size, they are covered with a soft skin called "velvet." Tiny blood vessels in the velvet bring food and minerals to the growing antlers. If you were able to touch this velvet, it would feel very warm because of all the blood flowing through it. This velvet covering also may help keep the deer cooler in the summer by bringing some of the animal's body heat to the surface where it can escape. An antler in velvet is soft, tender, easily injured, and will bleed if cut. Bucks make every effort to protect their growing antlers; a serious injury could produce a deformed set. Once the three-month, rapid-growth period is over, the antlers begin to harden (mineralize) beneath the velvet.

By September the fully developed antlers have hardened, and the buck's body starts getting ready for the breeding season. His complex hormone balance changes, and the blood supply to the antlers is cut off. The unnourished velvet dies and begins peeling away from the hardened antlers. As the buck rubs his antlers on trees and brush, he eventually rubs off all the velvet, but until this is accomplished, it is not unusual to see bucks running around with shreds of dried velvet hanging from their antlers. Once more, majestic, polished antlers adorn the buck's head when the breeding season starts. Then, if the buck is not harvested during the hunting season, he will again shed his antlers, just as he did the year before.

By this point you may be wondering what happens to all those antlers the bucks are shedding each year and why you haven't found any lying around in the woods. Once antlers are shed, they don't last long in the wild. Since they are storehouses for mineral salts so prized by rodents, they quickly become food for mice, rats, squirrels, and porcupines. As these animals nibble away, the antler's calcium and phosphorus provide nourishment, and the gnawing action it-self helps keep the rodent's teeth worn down. Those antlers not eaten are bleached, softened, and weathered away by the sun and rain until they become part of the soil. Their minerals may one day provide the nourishment for a plant that will be eaten by a buck and in turn provide nourishment for his growing antlers. So go the cycles of nature.

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