|
|
.
Associated with aristocracy, antlers have adorned European castles and
hunting
lodges for centuries. Today, furnishings and accessories made from
antlers are
featured in fine homes throughout the world and are a
reflection of grace and elegance.
Antlered Deer, Elk and Moose and most other antlered animals shed, or
drop, their antlers
each year, and in their place grow new ones. These
sheds are like fingerprints, and are as
unique as the animals that shed
them. The beauty in every antler is what inspires our art.
Antlers are
strong and solid and are art by themselves. Antlers are bony outgrowths
that develop from and are attached to two protuberances called pedicles on
top of the skull. While antlers are growing they are covered by a furry
skin covering called velvet. The growing antlers and the velvet are
supplied with oxygen and nutrients by a network of blood vessels. Growth
and hardening of the antlers is completed in late July or August. |
|
 In August, increased production of
testosterone cuts off the blood supply to the antlers and velvet. The
velvet dies, dries up, and peels away. Further removal of velvet from
antlers occurs during the rut. Among the testosterone-induced rut
activities of the male, which begin in late August or September, is the
thrashing of antlers against sapling trees and shrubs which rubs off the
velvet and polishes the antlers while staining them. Next time you are
hiking in the woods, you may see some signs of some antlered animals on
trees where the bark is rubbed off.
The reduced daylight of winter diminishes testosterone production; this
causes the shedding, or dropping, of antlers. Mature males shed them in
February-March and younger males may retain theirs until May depending on
what part of the country you live in. New antlers begin to grow within
days after old ones drop.
Antlers are the fastest growing tissue known in the world. Caribou males
and females both grow antlers; this is the only member of the deer family
that this occurs. Horns and antler are not the same, true antler is
calcified tissue. Horn, found on sheep, goat antelope and buffalo, are
actually hairs growing off the head of these animals and "mold" into the
form of the horn. Most horns do not shed. Antlers are a renewable resource
and shed-horn hunting is a common activity throughout the world, providing
antlers to many markets without causing harm to the animal. An adult moose
can carry a 60 pound set of antlers.
|
