Mule deer are slightly larger, have bigger ears, smaller tails, and forked antlers rather than points that grow from a central branch. Male mule deer, called bucks, have forked antlers that they use as weapons to fight competitors for mates during the breeding season, or “rut.” Females do not have antlers.
Mule Deer Buck
The bull (male) elk are beginning to drop their antlers—a yearly occurrence that happens a few months after breeding season due to a decrease in testosterone.
Antlers drop annually in late winter, typically January through March. The dropped antlers are called “sheds,” and the process does not hurt the buck. From spring to summer, the antlers regrow and are usually larger than the previous year.
Here is one at the North Carolina Zoo.
Elk Looking Up
Elk
The Barasingha, also known as the swamp deer, is a deer species distributed in the Indian subcontinent. It is a deer species with conspicuously large antlers. Overall, this mammal has as much as 12 antlers. In fact, the name of this species has Hindi origin and means ’12-antlered deer’. Unfortunately, Barasingha is nowadays among the most vulnerable deer species not only in the Indian Peninsula, but also throughout the world. The remaining small population of this species inhabits protected sanctuaries of India.
Here is a young Barasingha with damaged skin in Gir National Park.
The sambar is a large deer native to the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia that is listed as a vulnerable species. Deer is a group of mammals with more than 60 extant species, whereas Sambar is one particular species of deer with eight subspecies. The male sambar bears long, three-tined (or pronged) antlers. Here are images of the male sambar in Tadoba National Park.
Due to an abundance of wildlife around Jackson Hole, Wyoming, it was common to see use of animal related tourist attractions and icons in the town.
The four elk antler arches guarding the corners of Jackson Hole’s George Washington Memorial Park, more commonly called the Town Square, have become well known icons to the town’s many visitors. A local whitewater rafting and kayaking operator uses bears to attract customers.
“Actaeon” by Paul Howard Manship at Brookgreen Gardens, South Carolina.
In pain and terror Actaeon (a famous hero in Greek mythology) leaps forward, his body in a sharp diagonal. Antlers sprout from his forehead. One dog has sprung on his body from the rear, and another runs under his feet, with lifted snarling head.
Running from the Dogs