God has provided a way for the bull moose to start each breeding season with a new set of antlers.
Why does a moose grow antlers?
Bull moose shed their antlers every year. And
every year they grow a new set. Why is this, when bison and other
horned ruminants don't grow horns every year?
The reason is that antlers are not like ruminant horns. Antlers are made of true bone, without a central core and a horny sheath, so antlers frequently break.
Except for the musk deer of central Asia, and the Chinese water deer, the males of all living deer have antlers. Reindeer are unique in that both males and females have antlers.
The extinct Irish elk holds the record for huge antlers, which spanned around three meters (10 feet). These antlers weighed as much as some smallish humans do today.
A moose is an elk
The moose (technical name Alces alces) is the largest member of the deer family. It is known as an elk in Europe. Unrestricted hunting for many years — for its antlers and head as trophies, and for its beef-like flesh as food — reduced moose numbers drastically. Laws now protect it in North America and Europe, and hunting is more tightly controlled.
But what about those antlers that are replaced every year? Well, the antlers are used largely in displays and as weapons when the males fight for females, and breakages are common during the rut.
In His wisdom, God the Creator provided a way for the bull moose to start each breeding season with a nice new set of undamaged antlers — by simply letting the moose grow new ones!
Loud shout stuns moose
The deputy mayor of the Norwegian village of Songdalen was out hunting rabbits. Suddenly, a moose protecting her young charged at him. The deputy mayor, Svein Harald Folleraas, told the Oslo newspaper Verdens Gang that he immediately “unleashed a tremendous shout” at the moose. “The moose instantly collapsed on to the ground, a meter from me,” Folleraas said. A few seconds later the stunned moose stumbled to its feet and slowly staggered away. The newspaper said eyewitnesses verified the deputy mayor's story.
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