Umm, something doesn’t look quite right here
Denise Cox took this photo in Stallion Springs of a bull elk with a damaged antler.
There are a number of possible causes for a non-typical or deformed antler like this one. Often these are the result of an injury to the pedicle, the area where the base of the antler joins the skull.
A serious injury to the pedicle can cause the antler on that side of the skull to be malformed, and would typically be abnormal for the rest of the animal’s life. Antlers are shed every year, of course, but a pedicle injury that is severe enough to cause a malformation usually results in abnormal antlers in successive years as well.
Sometimes a non-typical antler can result from an injury to a velvet-covered new antler, and in that case, the bull may produce normal antlers in successive years after the damaged one is shed.
Non-typical antlers can also result from genetics, advanced age or hormone deficiencies, so it is difficult to determine the cause just from observation.
The bull in the photo appears to be a young one, so it is to be hoped that the drooping antler was the result of an injury to the nascent antler itself, and not the pedicle.
As long as it doesn’t interfere with the buck’s ability to forage and eat, the non-typical antler shouldn’t be life-threatening. It certainly makes that particular bull easy to identify. With luck, next year’s antler will be normal.
NATURAL SIGHTINGS is a regular feature of the Tehachapi News edited by Jon Hammond which showcases photos of the natural beauty that enhances the quality of life in Tehachapi. If you have a good quality image of plants, animals, insects, trees, birds, weather phenomena, etc., taken in the Tehachapi area, submit it to the Tehachapi News. Submissions can be dropped by the News office in the form of a print or CD, or sent by email to: editorial@tehachapinews.com.