DECIDUOUS NATURE OF DEER ANTLERS 347 



sika deer (Cervus nippon) and fallow deer {Dama dama) shedding 

 most often occurs in May, whereas elk and red deer {Cervus cana- 

 densis and C. elaphus) usually cast their antlers in March. Winter 

 is the time when the moose {Alces aloes), Virginia deer (Odocoi- 

 leus virginianus), and black-tailed deer (O. coUnnbianus) shed 

 their antlers. Still other species lose their antlers in the autumn soon 

 after the rutting season. The European roe deer (Capreolus ca- 

 preolus) sheds in December, as do mature male reindeer and caribou 

 (Rangifer tarandus), whereas Pere Dayid's deer (Elaphurus davi- 

 dianus) drops its antlers in Noyember.* The pronghorn antelope 

 (Antilocapra americana) likewise sheds its horn sheaths in Noyem- 

 ber. 



Some species of deer natiye to neotropical regions also shed their 

 antlers at regular seasons. In India, the Cashmere stag {Cervus 

 cashmirianus) generally sheds in March (Blanford, 1888-1891), 

 whereas the hog deer {Hijehphus porcinus) (Blanford, 1888-1891) 

 and barasingha (C. duvauceJi) (Brander, 1923) drop their antlers 

 in April, though yariations from this norm are not uncommon 

 (Mohr, 1932). The Indian muntjak {Cervulus muntpk) casts its 

 antlers in May (Lydekker, 1898). Other species may vary according 

 to habitat. Eld's deer {Cervus eJdi) is said to lose its antlers in June 

 in Manipur and in September in Lower Burma (Blanford, 1888- 

 1891). The sambar (Cervus unicolor) generally sheds in March on 

 the Indian peninsula and a month later in the Himalayan region, 

 but individuals ma\ depart markedly from the average (Blanford, 

 1888-1891). 



In all deer there is some diyergence between different individuals 

 of the same age and species, and even in the same individual in 

 different years. This variation may become exaggerated among some 

 species of deer native to tropical regions. Thus, in a given locality 

 the male population may represent all stages of antler growth at a 

 given time. The chital {Cervus axis) of India, for example, sheds its 

 antlers at any season of the year, as has been noted by Blanford 



* According to certain records (Lydekker, 1898; Pocock, 1923; Bedford, 1949, 

 1952; Wood Jones, 1951) stags have occasionally grown two sets of antlers a year. 

 The summer antlers were shed in the fall, whereupon a smaller set was grown in 

 December, to be sh?d later in the winter. This phenomenon has not been observed 

 in recent years, 



