#velericorn

[oh-dear-so-queer]

Intersexed males lacking a scrotum or testes sometimes develop what are known as VELERICORN antlers, which are covered in velvet and festooned with various ridges and knobs; such antlers are permanent, unlike regular antlers, which are shed and regrown each season. Other males – sometimes known as PERUKES – have elaborate, misshapen antlers covered with baroque nodule-like growths. Occasionally, females develop antlers, which may be single; spiked (without branches); covered in velvet; or lacking the flat, palmate structure typical of male Moose antlers.

"Biological Exuberance: Animal Homosexuality and Natural Diversity" - Bruce Bagemihl

[rabbitcruiser]

Moose Garden, Sweden (No. 8)

After the mating season males drop their antlers to conserve energy for the winter. A new set of antlers will then regrow in the spring. Antlers take three to five months to fully develop, making them one of the fastest growing animal organs. Antler growth is "nourished by an extensive system of blood vessels in the skin covering, which contains numerous hair follicles that give it a 'velvet' texture." This requires intense grazing on a highly-nutritious diet. By September the velvet is removed by rubbing and thrashing which changes the colour of the antlers. Immature bulls may not shed their antlers for the winter, but retain them until the following spring. Birds, carnivores and rodents eat dropped antlers as they are full of protein and moose themselves will eat antler velvet for the nutrients.

If a bull moose is castrated, either by accidental or chemical means, he will shed his current set of antlers within two weeks and then immediately begin to grow a new set of misshapen and deformed antlers that he will wear the rest of his life without ever shedding again; similarly deformed antlers can result from a deficiency of testosterone caused by cryptorchidism or old age. These deformed antlers are composed of living bone which is still growing or able to grow, since testosterone is needed to stop antler growth; they may take one of two forms. "Cactus antlers" or velericorn antlers usually retain the approximate shape of a normal moose's antlers but have numerous pearl-shaped exostoses on their surface; being made of living bone, they are easily broken but can grow back. Perukes (US: /pəˈruːks/) are constantly growing, tumor-like antlers with a distinctive appearance similar to coral. Like roe deer, moose are more likely to develop perukes, rather than cactus antlers, than the more developed cervine deer, but unlike roe deer, moose do not suffer fatal decalcification of the skull as a result of peruke growth, but rather can support their continued growth until they become too large to be fully supplied with blood. The distinctive-looking perukes (often referred to as "devil's antlers") are the source of several myths and legends among many groups of Inuit as well as several other tribes of indigenous peoples of North America.

In extremely rare circumstances, a cow moose may grow antlers. This is usually attributed to a hormone imbalance.

Source: Wikipedia