Look what dh found in the park!

I often wonder how they keep their heads up with them heavy antlers on them. Magnificent animals.

FannyCornforth

tanith

Did you take it home? ?

Did you?

He left it at first, but went back later.
We have a very handy son in law who could probably turn it into a nice coat rack! Not for us, though - nowhere suitable to put it.

I fell over one some years ago crossing a moor in the Peak District where there is a resident herd of wild reds. The top part had been chewed by something, but the rest of it was in good fettle. DS makes walking sticks so he got two good stick tops out of it!

I live bear Bushy Park, someone told me that you weren't supposed to take the antlers home, why not? I know if I was lucky enough to find one it would certainly come home with me!

grannysyb

I live bear Bushy Park, someone told me that you weren't supposed to take the antlers home, why not? I know if I was lucky enough to find one it would certainly come home with me!

the deer actually eat the shed antlers to get enough minerals to grow the next lot. Its one of those "what if everbody did it" things. One person taking the odd one probably doesn't hurt but they have no more right to do it than anyone else! Additionally of course deer who are owned by somebody are owned entirely and that includes shed antlers!
www.wildlifeonline.me.uk/animals/article/deer-overview-antler-development-summary

Thanks for the info @greenlady. Fascinating reading.

Well I've learnt something new today!

Ooh, they give me the heebie jeebies.

?

I found a small one about 12" long in the garden, the deer unfortunately jump hedges and decimate the plants and kill off the fruit trees. Not a welcome sight here!

My dog would love that. Funnily enough I’m actually out in the forest now and have just seen a few deer, my stupid dog didn’t have a clue they were there ?

Make reindeer lose their antlers Autumn. So therefore all Santa's reindeer including Rudolph are female.

Wow that's amazing to find that while out.

MaggsMcG

Make reindeer lose their antlers Autumn. So therefore all Santa's reindeer including Rudolph are female.

Not surprising really - they find their way to all those houses with children without getting lost once. They must be female.

I'm missing something here. If the antlers are shed yearly then how come these are so big? Surely they can't grow that size in a year.

https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202203/medium-762656-deer-standing.jpg https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202203/medium-795936-deer-hiding.jpg

I love these two pictures.

Elegran (but female reindeer have antlers, too. Rudolph may be a girl ) I thought Rudolph and indeed the whole troop of Father Christmas's reindeer were thought to be females because the males have shed their antlers by the end of November to mid December, whereas females keep theirs until May. Of course being magical flying reindeers, the laws of nature may not apply

Oops I replied before finishing the thread, MaggsMcG sorry you'd already said it.

My neighbour wants me to cut down the bullice (cherry plums) near our shared fence because the blossom gets blown on his car port roof. I admit the trees are not the most pretty . If I trim the trees , they will grow even bigger . I am not able to trim them myself.....too decrepit . Any ideas ?

https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202203/medium-206951-197.jpg https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202203/medium-113716-195.jpg

We have a pair which my husband's family had from before he was born. In our previous house in Aberdeenshire we had them on the outside window sill of our kitchen. The red squirrels used to sharpen or possibly wear down their teeth on them.

Witzend

The young males have tiny ones - they evident get bigger with each season. We’ve often noticed that we hardly ever see the really big stags until the autumn rutting season, when they’re very busy chasing off other stags from their ‘harem’, bellowing and often clashing antlers with rivals.

More than once we’ve seen a big stag with a lot of dead bracken festooned in his antlers - apparently it’s supposed to make them look bigger and more scary, but to us they look more like someone the morning after a really wild party!

Actually, it probably is a stag after a really wild party, when you think about it!

Some fun remarks on this thread, a great relief since Gransnet can be pretty combative sometimes! Also all the photos were so good.

I have 4 deer living on my & my neighbour's land - one is so confident that she walks toward me if I stand still, then we have a few minutes silent communication at a safe distance for her, then she simply turns and wanders off again. It makes me feel very privileged!

We have deer in the fields across from my house but seldom see them. During the first lockdown, they became accustomed to there being nobody around and no vehicles on the tiny lane that goes the length of one field. I was walking my dog one day and rounded a corner of the lane and came face to face with a deer. We all looked at each other for what felt like a small eternity (they are surprisingly large at close quarters) and then it was off, back through a hole in the hedgerow and over the fields. It was an utterly awe inspiring experience, looking directly into its beautiful eyes, and one I shall never forget.

Male reindeer also lose their antlers post mating season, but females keep theirs throughout winter. So Santa’s sleigh is pulled by an all female team! Rudolfina anyone? ?

The only things we have that’s deer related are the repulsive ticks that hitch a lift on the dog! ( Tick card an absolute necessity)