Mr. J. E. Harting on Forest Animals. 81
heard that stags "shed their horns," but of the meaning
of the words they have no clear idea. Least of all do they
imagine that the whole of the strong, thick, solid growth
parts at the base from the spot where it grows, and drops
to the ground like a dead leaf in autumn. Nor do they
know that out of the hard bone there sprouts forth a soft,
sap-filled shoot, which grows up like a tree with branches.
The exact time of shedding the horns depends in some
measure upon the age of the animal and the temperature
of the winter and early spring. They are sometimes shed
towards the end of February or beginning of March ; but
should the winter be cold and spring protracted, the stags
shed their horns as late as May—the old ones at the begin-
ning, the young ones at the end of that month. It is very
rarely, however, that an old stag is seen with his old horns
on after the beginning of May; but a two-year-old deer will
carry them for a month or two later.*
In a few days after the old horns have dropped the new
growth shows itself, and gradually the new antlers are
developed. They are then covered with a thick velvet
which preserves the point, as yet soft and tender, from
injury. While in this soft condition they are very sen-
sitive, and to avoid injury by striking them against trees
the deer leads a life of retirement. In about twelve weeks
they are full grown, and as they gradually harden the
animal rubs them against a tree to get rid of the velvet.
This can only be done gradually, and a stag may often be
seen at this time of year with the velvet hanging in strips,
being only partially detached from the horns. The weight
of the antlers in a full-grown stag varies, according to their
size and massiveness, from ten, twelve, to fifteen pounds.
This is nothing compared to what antlers used to weigh in
former days, a circumstance which must have attracted
the notice of all who have examined old collections of deer's
heads, such, for instance, as may be seen in some of the
royal palaces and ancient halls in Germany. This is to
be accounted for by the fact that the deer formerly
attained a much greater age than they are now allowed
* Collyns, "Chase of the Wild Red Deer," pp. 32, 33.