I have found lots of sheds over the years and most of them are all chewed up. I always believed it was rodents...squirrels, mice etc that chewed them up.
Well I have this pair of elk sheds in the garden in front of the front deck, mere steps from the front of the house.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v247/theferret111/2007_07160001.jpg)
a few minutes ago I am photographing a big doe eating out of one of my wife's bird feeders when she walks down in the garden and proceeds to start
chewing on the elk rack!
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v247/theferret111/2007_08080015.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v247/theferret111/2007_08080011.jpg)
She actually drug them both out of place while chewing on them, sticking several of the tines deep in her mouth and working them over with her molars. She quit when some other deer came into the yard and she went up to join them. I've been observing deer for nearly 40 years and never seen this behavior, have you?
The evidence
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v247/theferret111/2007_08080024.jpg)
I'll never look at a chewed shed the same.
Now that is something - wonder if they all do it or just that this particular doe was "needing/lacking something", like they say about cats and dogs when thjey eat grass.
Lots of minerals in those sheds.
I always thought Bambi was a cannibal, now I know for sure.
Takes vitamins and minerals to make 'em so there probably loaded with good fer deer stuff. A natural deer multi- vitamin?
too cool Mickey.
Bob
Wow! That's really cool.
I had always heard that rodents would eat them, but never thought about deer doing it.
Great pics!Do you suppose CWD could be spread this way? Leland
I would bet my backyard deer have never seen an elk antler :bigsmyl:
Neat pics.
Neat. Do you have a mineral lick nearby? Looks like she wants one.
Calcium salts appeal to just about all mammals especially in the heat like we've been having. I wonder if you could "salt" a traffic area with them in the early season :smileystooges: Grant
Those are some really cool photos.
Rich K
Several years ago I shot a deer and the next day a flock of turkeys were pecking in the gutpile. Whether they were eating the stomach contents or getting a little meat, I don't know.
Deer, coyotes, all kinds of rodents, even cows... Antlers -- not just for breakfast anymore. ggg
This is a pretty well documented behavior. Many of the biological books out there concerning whitetail deer will reference this behavior.
So hank Parker was over and sprayed it with C'Mere Deer, infomercial to follow :biglaugh:
Cool pics!
Tooth ache maybe?
Thanks, for the pics.
That's pretty cool Mickey. I've never seen it, but when you think about it it makes sense with the calcium that is in the antlers......
David
I have suspected this behavior, when I found shed antlers way out in a field with no squirrels around, and the tips were chewed just as in your photo. Another unusual thing is that mice in my house have chewed some of my sheds in the antler pile in the basement in half, if there was already entry into the center of the antler.
At one point she walked away and cruised thru a little flower garden nibbling here and there (to the left of the little dogwood in this photo) but eventually wandered back to the antlers
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v247/theferret111/2007_08080020.jpg)
and proceeded to chew some more
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v247/theferret111/2007_08080022.jpg)
Happens here too, most commonly giraffe chew bones. ( no shed antlers in Afica!) Antelope like eland and kudu as well. Cattle also chew bones. The general concensus is that they chew them for the minerals, especially calcium. Interestingly after a veld fire many differnt species of grazing and browsing animals will gather to lick up the white burnt ash of trees and grass clumps. Zebra are quick to move to a burnt area. Same thing as a mineral lick, ash is pure mineral, no fibre and no water.
Is there such a thing as a real vegetarian given that humans are reputed to swallow at least fifty spiders in their sleep per year?
chrisg
Great pics and interesting subject. Thanks.
well thats it i wont be hunting whitetailed deer them buggers bite back. :biglaugh: :biglaugh: real nice pics mickey
Wow new to me great pics as usual Mickey!
Wow I never seen that before. Mick love that garden/ a do know if I lived near you ya would have to worry about more then them deer chewing on them! :bigsmyl: <><
Now thats a new one on me. Got the be the minerals in the horns.
She's picking birdseed out of her teef.
Killdeer :biglaugh:
I want to know what Ferret planted to grow those things in the first place!
Maybe she was feeling a little horny :scared:
Looks like you need to make a mineral lick with some di-cal and salt in it. Neat pic and thanks for sharing it with us.
Rob
QuoteOriginally posted by fxe:
Maybe she was feeling a little horny :scared:
:clapper:
How the hell can you shoot those sweet (tasty) thangs Mickey? :D
Hmmmm Killdeer may be onto something LOL (feasting on white millet for the ground birds)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v247/theferret111/2007_08080005.jpg)
Great Day In the Morning!
I'd heard it but now we know...thanks for sharing. :thumbsup:
Man thats a first for me! :confused: I always thought it was mice and squirrels.By the way I like your yard :thumbsup:
Well, I haven't seen deer chewing on antler before, but I had to avoid a doe on the highway this morning at 4:30. (That'll wake you up!) Anyway, I swear she was licking the pavement in the left lane! Maybe Al Gore has an explanation for this behavior.
Al Gore...well...nevermind :biglaugh:
Anyhow, just walked out and looked out front. Look where the elk rack is this morning (compare it to the first pic on page 1)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v247/theferret111/2007_08090001.jpg)
:eek:
That is very interesting. Just shows how nature makes all things circle around. By the way. You have a beautiful yard.
I'd only read about it like others...never saw it personally..cattle, yes...deer, no. But then, I don't live in your yard/zoo! :)
Let it to Killy Dear to come up with the toothpick theory! :rolleyes:
I think deer lick the pavement in certain areas to get leftover salt from the past winter. I have seen several deer doing the same thing, squirrels too.
Rob
great pic's.........
You know Strutter, it was raining, so maybe it brought the salt up out of the pavement.