Shedding and regrowing antlers

[Meeka]

Am I correct that an adult stag (say 10 years) will shed its entire antlers and then grow a whole new set with an additional branch to indicate it is now 11 years old?

[lankeela]

Unlike horns in cattle, antlers are cast off every year. Deer or cervids such as caribou, reindeer, wapiti and moose grow antlers while cattle or bovids, including mountain goats, bighorn sheep, bison and pronghorn antelope, possess horns. Reindeer and caribou are the only cervid species in which both the male and female produce antler.

Antlers begin to grow at about 2 to 3 weeks of age. Growth is determined by a combination of juvenile maturity and threshold body weight. Within one year of age, the pedicles will growth their first antler, usually a single spike. With increasing emphasis on good management and good breeding programs multi-branch spikes with brow lines are becoming more common. The pedicle is distinguished from the velvet antler by a zone of transition in hair style and colour. This zone of transition is not very clear in yearlings and care must be taken not to damage the pedicle when removing the antler by accidentally cutting too low.

The annual cycle of antler casting, antler growth and hardening or calcification is regulated by changes in daylight length, calving (for females) and testosterone levels (in males). Through spring and summer, the antler develops and grows, turning into hard antler usually around the end of August. This is when they will �shed� the velvet from the antler.

[commoner]

...why not just give the link to that lankeela? ;-)

http://www.albertareindeer.com/html/antler_pro duction.html

[Clanad]

The North American Elk or Wapiti reaches maturity at about 3 years of age depending on habitat, forage and genetics. At that time the maximum brow points (2) and number of main beam points (4) is reached. The antlers will continue to grow larger each year of the bull's life and the main points can develop sub-points, but will not develop more than a total of 8 "points" per side. The main beam, especailly just aft of its exit from the head can grow in diameter to the size of a man's upper arm. This is very unusual due to the limited life span of most elk. The numbers of points can be affected by injury to the antler during the "velvet" stage but these kinds of unusual point numbers or differing numbers for each side are classified as non-typical. Here, in the western U.S., records for largest antler's are maintained by the Boone and Crockett organization...