I came across a question that i have yet been able to answer based on any research i have done. SO here it is. Does a Doe with a rack shed her antlers? I know some Does grow them BUT do they shed as well? Very strange question but i feel its a one that needs a solid answer. Thoughts?
Wikipedia is our friend.... This is what i found in case anyone else drew a blank like i did. Antlers are unique to cervids and found mostly on males: only caribou and reindeer have antlers on the females, and these are normally smaller than those of the males. Nevertheless, fertile does from other species of deer have the capacity to produce antlers on occasion, usually due to increased testosterone levels.[5] Each antler grows from an attachment point on the skull called a pedicle. While an antler is growing, it is covered with highly vascular skin called velvet, which supplies oxygen and nutrients to the growing bone.[6] Antlers are considered one of the most exaggerated cases of male secondary sexual traits in the animal kingdom,[7] and grow faster than any other mammal bone.[8] Growth occurs at the tip, and is initially cartilage, which is mineralized to become bone. Once the antler has achieved its full size, the velvet is lost and the antler's bone dies. This dead bone structure is the mature antler. In most cases, the bone at the base is destroyed by osteoclasts and the antlers fall off at some point.[6] As a result of their fast growth rate, antlers are considered a handicap since there is an incredible nutritional demand on deer to re-grow antlers annually, and thus can be honest signals of metabolic efficiency and food gathering capability.[9] In most arctic and temperate-zone species, antler growth and shedding is annual, and is controlled by the length of daylight. In tropical species, antlers may be shed at any time of year, and in some species such as the sambar, antlers last several years. Some equatorial deer never shed their antlers.
