Facts About Deer You Must Know

Deer are commonly found in the wildexcept those kept in the zoos or wildlife reserves. They usually live in forested areas and the most widespread deer in North America is the white-tailed deer. Deer are beautiful animals with their imposing antlers, which are body parts that stretched from their skulls which must be cast off once a year. Antlers are composed of dead bones and they are not permanent in contrast to horns. They protrude fromthe skull of a deer and their point of origin is known as pedicels. They are required to be eliminated every year as that is part of their anatomy. It is important to note that females rarelygrow antlers because males have plentiful amount of testosterone which is the hormone that is essential to their growth. Deer with stronger antlers will breed more often than those with weaker ones because the former will be able to dominate the latter. Antlers are usually shed during the winter months of November, December and January. When they are growing, they are covered with a protective coating known as velvet. By late summer, the velvet begins to dry and in response to this, the deer begin to rub their antlers against trees and shrubs so that the velvet could fall off. In northern states, the shedding of antlers takes places earlier, around November or December, while in warmer southern states, the shedding takes place a little later, around December, January or February. Older bucks usually start the shedding process before youngerbucks but their growth is dependent on the amount of food consumed. The quicker a male can shed its dry velvet, the quicker it can start to confront other males for breeding rights because at this time, their testosterone level is at its peak. The breeding season is brought to an endfor any male when the antlers begin to shed. When spring begins, the preceding antlers would have shed completely and new ones start to grow. At this period, new antlers are very sensitive to injury because a lot of energy is required to grow them and the protective velvet coating carries a blood supply full of minerals. Antlers will grow back for about five months. Deer are the number one animal that can be hunted legally in the United States because without hunting them, their numbers would become intolerable for most towns and cities.