THE DEER FAMILY 



119 



Many persons find it difficult to believe that 

 the antlers of all these creatures drop off close 

 to the skull, every year, and are completely re- 

 newed in about four months; but such is the 

 fact. It is Nature's special plan to absorb the 



seems incredible — unless watched from week to 

 week — that the enormous antlers of full-fjrown 

 moose or elk can be dropped and completely re- 

 newed again in as short a period as four months ; 

 but it is true. 





1. March 21. 

 .3. April 30. 



DO ELK SHED THEIR ANTLEKS .' 

 An c^aswer from the New York Zoological Park, 



2. April 8. 

 4. May 15. 



surplus strength of the males, and render them 

 weak and inoffensive during the period in which 

 the mothers are rearing their young, when both 

 the does and their fawns would be defenceless 

 against savage males with perfect antlers. It 



The antlers of North American deer are usu- 

 ally dropped in March, but occasionally in Feb- 

 ruary. Sometimes a day or two passes between 

 the fall of the first antler and the loss of the 

 second. The root, or pedicle, exposed is a rough 



