Wildlife Wednesday -- Cactus Buck

By Andy Ames

Now here is something you don’t see every day. This is what is referred to as a “cactus buck” and is a great example of why testosterone is such an important driver in antler development. Increasing testosterone levels initiate antler growth, allow calcification, velvet shedding, and eventually an annual loss of the antlers post rut as testosterone levels diminish to complete the cycle. Disruption of testosterone production due to testicular trauma, virus, or sometimes even old age can create abnormal, or peruke, antlers. Peruke comes from the French word “perruque”, a term for a wig. (Hermaphradite deer, those with both male and female organs, may also grow antlers that do not shed). With a lower testosterone level of these compromised deer, antlers may grow smaller, softer, retain their velvet, and fail to fall off. When the new set of antlers start to grow in it either grows into the existing set or start a new nub. If you look closely at this deer, one antler is near its ear, another its eyebrow. Strange indeed.