It is crazy to think of wildlife following a calendar but every year around August 12, the bull elk in Estes Valley and Rocky Mountain National Park start to shed the velvet from their antlers. This is the soft, fuzzy, skin-like material covering the antlers as they grow into full girth.
Now, elk do not really follow a calendar like we know with days and weeks but rather follow a natural calendar progression of antler growth.
The antler growth starts in mid-March to early April almost immediately after the bulls shed theprevious year’s rack, with the largest bulls dropping their antlers first. The antlers grow about an inch a day fed by the nutrients in the numerous blood vessels in the velvet that covers them. As the antlers grow, they are fragile and susceptible to damage. Therefore, bulls typically will not spar when antlers are in the velvet stage.
Once the antlers reach their maximum size in mid-August, rings form at the base of each antler and cut off the blood supply. This causes the velvet to stop supplying nutrients, dry and deteriorate. The bull will then rub the velvet off the antlers, using branches and trunks of trees, bushes and brush. At this point, elk enter what some refer to as the “dreadlock” stage when the velvet hangs in stringy, twisted strips from the antlers.
The process to rake and shed the velvet only takes about a day.
The elk’s testosterone also starts to increase about this time with the approaching rut starting just a few weeks later. After raking off the velvet and as a response to the increased hormones, the elk’s antlers will harden into ivory-like bone. The bull will continue to rub the antlers to polish and sharpen them. In some cases, broken branches become headdresses adorning the antlers. It is believed that these accoutrements on the antlers may help impress potential mates and make a bull look larger to rivals.
During the rut, the antlers will be used to fight with other bull elk. They are also used to attract cow elk.
Once the rut is over in late October, the need for the antlers subsides. Unlike deer and moose, which drop their antlers in early winter to conserve energy, elk carry their antlers until early spring.In March and April, the process begins again just as the fresh new growth of spring forbs and grasses providesincreased nutrients for the bull.
Dawn Wilson is a professional and award-winning nature photographer and writer who lives in Estes Park year-round. You can see more of her work, join one of her Rocky tours, purchase prints and calendars, or suggest future topicsat DawnWilsonPhotography.com.
