Page 11 - BBC Wildlife Volume 36 #06

WILD JUNE

Hidden In summer red
deer stags divert
phenomenal
resources into
antler growth.

he ‘Monarch of the Glen’
looks most handsome
Twhen about to begin the
autumn rut. But it is now, in
early summer, that a red deer
stag arguably is at his most
impressive. One of nature’s NICK
miracles is happening during the
summer, and it’s occurring right BAKER
there between his ears. REVEALS A
Antlers are unique to deer
– a pair of deciduous, cranial FASCINATING
appendages whose primary WORLD OF
function is to make the owner WILDLIFE THAT
look impressive to females living plinths from which
and strike fear in his sexual WE OFTEN every pair of antlers will sprout a grade-one buzz cut.
competition. They also serve as OVERLOOK. and where the production starts C onstruction races ahead at
and where the production starts.
Construction races ahead at
n incredible rate: it has to. Up
tools in duels of strength with Pedicles are surrounded by an
closely matched rivals. a tissue called the periosteum, to
o 2.5cm of growth a day makes
ntler formation the fastest tissue
Unlike horns, which are D E E R A N T L E R S which, under the influence of an
permanent and consist of a bony testosterone, begins to multiply. gr rowth in the animal kingdom.
core within a sheath made of This cell production proceeds up It I I t is a colossal investment of
keratin, antlers are entirely bone and away from the skull, creating m m m
materials, since a big stag in
and grown in time for the short a soft cartilaginous scaffold: the h h h is prime can produce a set of
ntlers weighing 14kg. All that
mating season and then shed shape of the future antler. A an
again the following year. Most supply chain with the rest ti ssue needs to be found within
red deer stags will have dropped of the body is set up, fe ewer than four months of
their antlers back in the spring, D I D YO U with a rich plumbing dr ropping last year’s antlers. In
and as soon as this happens a K N OW ? of blood vessels p oor habitats, a stag may take
new pair starts to develop. bringing further ou
ut a ‘mineral overdraft’ on other
Antler width and height
When a young male is are a better guide to building blocks to p arts of his skeleton, creating
between three months and a year a stag’s age than the the site. Minerals te
emporary osteoporosis.
old, a specialised pair of bony number of points, such as calcium Come early autumn, the
ntlers are complete. Now
bumps appear just behind the or tines. and phosphate an
eyes. These are the pedicles, the are deposited and b egins the unveiling. The velvet,
hardening occurs. in
ncluding all of the blood vessels
an
nd nerves that it contains, dies
ODD ONES OUT Growing up of ff, dries up and finally is shed.
Like a production line, the T he hard antlers are ready at last:
Chinese water deer don’t have antlers.
antler-building process continues a a a physiological miracle.
We all learn that if a deer has to scrape away snow to find all summer. Growing tips are The fact that antlers grow
uring the months of plenty is
antlers it must be male… but buried food. Some smaller, more followed a few centimetres du
ustrat ons by Peter Dav d Scott/The Art Agency known as reindeer deer ( ictured) that final hardened position. The in eadwear. So when you see stags
o coincidence. While the hinds
behind by a band of construction
n n
specie
ions
there are exceptions.
ancient species of deer, such
ancient
s
re nursing, the boys are quietly
ar
that sets the structure in its
inese water
as the Ch
Female caribou,
nvesting in this autumn season’s
p
i
developing antlers are unlike the
h
hrive in parts
now th
in Scandinavia and
final product, being much softer
mooching around, remember
m
e Fens – don’t
d
of the
Siberia, grow and
and enveloped in skin, which is
hat though they may appear
th
retain antlers in
antlers at all.
have
insulated with a dense pelage of
o be doing very little, there is
to
Inste
ead, they have
a cycle timed
rged tusks used
enlar
are said to be “in velvet” but they
of males. They
to se
ICK BAKER
N N
feel more like the fine bristles of
are probably tools
c
challengers.
is
a naturalist, author and TV presenter.
I diferently to that with ettle disputes d fine hairs. Antlers in this phase pl lenty going on up top.
June 2018 BBC Wildlife 11