The Farmville herald. (Farmville, Va.) 1957-current, 1963-01-11

antlerS some time between the
last of January and first part of
March. No matter how many
points he has now, if he gets
away from the hunter he is going
to lose them before spring.
In a crude way 1 am going to
attempt to explain the cycle of
the antler.
Mating Season
The mating season comes but
once year. usually in October,
here in Virginia. Most old deer
hunters know that at this time
the buck does a lot of fighting
for possession OF the doe. The
winner of these fights is called
on by nature 10 do a long and
exhaustlng biological service.
Nature has equipped the buck
physically to perform this task,
but when this service has been
performed his organs and glands
do not become inactive and re-
main dormant for another year.
Here is the key to the cycle.
Nature has created a safety
valve. which permits the bucks
highly developed and vigorous
glandular system to continue to
function, but directs its secre-
tons to a different and useful
purpose This safety valve is the
bucks antlers!
A few weeks from now the old
buck may be running across a
field or through a thicket when
his antlers fall off, but they will
drop no matter if he is standing
still.
Sometimes | picture the be-
ginning of the new antler as an
English pea in the spring. break
ing through the crust of earth;
and as this action takes place
under the base of the old antlel',
this old antler is pushed off by
the new antler starting to muSh-
room upward. After the buck
has shed his old antlers, the new
set grows very fast. BY early
summer they look almost like
some kind of cactus plant. They
are spongy. filled with blood
vessels, and covered with fine
brown hair.
If you visit our state game
farm in Cumberland County dur
ing June or July and they hap
pen to have buck in captivity,
you can see for yourself what a
growing antler looks like. l saw
a buck there last year with ant
lerS full grown but still very
sensitive to touch. There was
even a bit of blood on one ant
Ter. caused by a mere brier
scratch.
During this period the buck
tries to be very careful not to
let anything strike his antlers.
Sometimes he does hit one of
them against some hard object
and fractures it. You may have
found evidence of such a nishap
in the fall if you saw deer
with an enlarged ring around
one of the longer points on an
antler.
By late summer the bucks ant
lerS will reach full size. The size
Of antlers and the number of
points on next years buck will
be determined largely by the
quality of food he eats and by
the vigor and vilihty of the ami
NAL himself.
This is true in all types OF
deer which we have in the
United States: the Virginia
Whitehall, the black tailed deer
and the mule deer.
Along about next September a
strange thing will take place in
the buck deer. A construction
will develop at the base of the
antler. This Will cut off most of
the circulation to the antler and
the antler will begin to dry up
and harden. The antlers shrink
opH u,.i,1Eln tho f;,,o ooo+ =, 6
hair loosenS up. and the old
buck will begin to rub his ant
lerS against small trees until he
has polished them to look like
metal.
During the shrinking period
the little points that you find
around the lower part of the ant
Ter. points that you can hang a
ring en-. are formed. BY the last
of September or first of October
antler development is complete
and the bucks sexual energy
and vigor is ready to be diverted
again TO reproductive purposes.
You will notice that the buck
takes on a different appearance
then. His neck will swell out to
about two inches wider and
thicker and he will become bel
hgcrent. He has again come
into his own. ready 10 venture
forth in search OF The lady Of
his choice
Finds A Mate
When the buck finds his mate.
he stays with her a day or two
then he deserts her and seeks a
new mate. This is the time that
the buck fights for possession of
the doe l have seen bucks lock
ed together by their antlerS and
found dead
We are now back to breeding
season again. and the cycle of
the dntler6 Is complete. The