海外「不思議な鹿が自宅のソファーで寝ていました」

There are things that deer breeders can’t wait for at this time of year. It is the moment when the antlers, the symbol of deer, fall.

　The antlers of the deer grow again in a cycle of one year. Like many deer, only males have horns, but in spring, they fall off naturally and new horns grow over the summer. By the autumn breeding season, the growth of the horns stops and “breaks” (the skin off the surface) and the brown horns turn white. Even after the breeding season, winter comes again with its fine horns on its head.

　Here, let’s look back on the year of Ezo deer Q at Ueno Zoo. Last year (2015) the angle fell on April 25th, the latest of the past few years. I thought I wouldn’t miss that moment, but in the few hours I was away from Q, the corner fell off. Just as I thought I looked like a female, a new horn soon began to grow, and after half a month, it was five centimeters long. After that, the horns grew rapidly and grew by one centimeter in a day. At this time of year, the corners feel very warm when touched because blood passes through the inside.

　In mid-August, the longest corner is about 70 centimeters. It has grown to this point and stopped growing. After that, the skin on the corner surface gradually became thinner, and the unevenness of the bones under the skin became noticeable. The angle was broken on Oct. 12. The blood flowing through the corner also stops, so the temperature drops from the tip where the skin begins to tear. At the same time, there was a change in behavior, and he was trying to peel off trees, walls, and logs that were used to stop the earth, whatever they were rubbed against him.