One-Antlered Deer

Behold, the former things have come to pass, And new things I declare; Before they spring forth I tell you of them.” – Isaiah 42:9

“Behold, I am going to do something new, Now it will spring up; Will you not be aware of it? I will even make a roadway in the wilderness, Rivers in the desert. – Isaiah 43:19 NASB20

This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! – 2 Corinthians 5:17 NLT

For whatever reason, folks where I live like to call antlers “horns”. Not sure why that is, as they are not the same. Antlers are shed each year. Some say this is due to the changing of the amount of daylight which occurs during the shifting of seasons, and perhaps temperature variations as well. Or sometimes, it has been theorized, the new antler growth actually causes the old antlers to fall off. Horns, on the other hand, are hollow, and the same ones remain on the animal for its lifetime (think cows and goats, etc.). I explain this a bit further in my post Mountain Treasures I.

Antlers are packed with vitamins and minerals, and they require energy to grow (see Antler Eating Deer). Once it is time for the deer to shed their antlers from the previous year, they tend to discard both of them at about the same time. Because of that, I think this may be the only good picture I have of a deer with only one antler. (I have sometimes found both shed antlers lying on the ground next to each other whilst hiking).

But as with most anything else, there are exceptions. I have seen what I believe is this same deer (pictured above) walking around our home for more than two weeks now. As you can see, he still has the antler on the right side firmly attached to his head. Last I saw him, he was raking this antler against a tree, obviously trying to knock it off and get on with growing a set of new ones for the upcoming year. And although it is infrequent for me to see a deer with one antler still attached, I have never seen a deer actually shed an antler.

Maybe someday.

Although many new things happen in the springtime, it’s not the only time of year for the start of something fresh and new. As the above Scriptures state, God can do new things anywhere at any time. And if you are not sure how to begin a relationship with the God who created deer with antlers and cows with horns and a bazillion other things in our universe, please see Got God?

Hope you have a great day.

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