Not Your Typical

Deer antlers usually grow symmetrical, although occasionally they can be asymmetrical like in this mule deer buck, seen near Radium Hot Springs, BC.

Deformed antlers are often caused by injury to the velvet, as it is the velvet that carries blood vessels that nourish the growing antlers. These antler abnormalities may only last for a year unless the injury occurs near
the base of the growing antler or to the skull, which can result in deformed antlers for life.

It is also well documented ”that skeletal injury to a hind leg will result in the opposite antler being malformed in the next and in subsequent antler growth periods. Injury to a front leg often results in the antler on the same side of the body being malformed.” So it is interesting to see
if these nontypical deer can be recognized in following years.

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