For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven. A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to harvest. Ecclesiastes 3:1-2 NLT
There is a reason why shed antlers from deer, elk, and moose don’t last too long once they hit the ground. It has been well documented that mice, chipmunks, squirrels, raccoons, porcupines, etc. like to eat old antlers. Almost twenty percent of an antler is calcium, and another ten percent is phosphorus. It also contains lots of other trace minerals and vitamins. There may even be some protein in the antler as well, depending upon its age. It’s kind of like a mouse finding a rather large high-energy power bar lying on the ground. I can imagine the little rascal’s eyes just about popping out of its head when it finds one. Mine mine mine…
Once in a while I’ll bring back an old, chewed up antler I find on a hike and put it in our backyard. I heard some clomping around on our patio not long ago and looked out to see the deer in the above photo dragging an old antler around and chewing on it. Although not as well documented, deer obviously do like to eat the old antlers, though they don’t seem to be quite as efficient at it as their rodent counterparts. Deer don’t have sharp incisors – front teeth – like squirrels and mice do, so they chew up old antlers with their back molars. In fact, deer don’t have any front teeth on their upper jaw. No doubt the attraction for the deer, as with the rodents, is the concentration of minerals and vitamins found in the old antlers.
I’ve read of one account where elk were actually chewing on each other’s antlers before they shed them. Sometimes stresses and requirements for vitamins and minerals can cause animals to take rather extraordinary measures to meet their needs.
It takes a lot of energy to grow an antler. That energy doesn’t go to waste even after the antlers are shed and new ones start to grow back in their place.
And that’s just one small part of a very big picture in the life-cycle of these animals.
What an amazing God to think of all that.
Have a great day.