RAPID GROWTH OF ANTLERS 



59 



with minute hairs. When fairly started the antlers of a 

 healthy and vigorous elk or caribou grow at the rate of one- 

 third of an inch per 

 day, or even more. 

 They are soft, spongy, 

 warm, full of blood, 

 are easily injured and 

 if cut will bleed f reel v. 

 The material of which 

 they are composed, 

 internallv, is the same 

 as that which forms 

 the hair. The drain 

 upon the animal's 

 vitality during this 



"DO ELK SHED THEIR 

 ANTLERS?" 



An answer from the New York 

 Zoological Park. 



3. April 30. i. May 15. 



period is very severe, 

 and it is not strange 

 that the animal is 

 then meek and spirit- 

 less. 



A large pair of elk 

 antlers, dropped in 

 the Zoological Park 

 on March 21, had 

 been renewed to their 



full length by June £1, but the tips were flal and club-like. 



The first sign of the hardening process was the shrinkage of 



