Antlers are used for fighting and self-defense.

The first thing a deer does when it recognizes danger is to run. If running doesn't solve the problem, some bucks use their antlers to fight. And doe's front hooves are pointed like knives, so when they get angry, they kick at their enemies.

Usually only bucks have antlers; caribou are the only species of deer where both the buck and the doe have antlers, but the doe's are much smaller. Each winter, the buck's antlers fall off and new ones begin to grow in the spring, when they are covered with a layer of skin called antler. When the antlers are molded, the antlers fall off.

Female reindeer shed their antlers in the spring. Also, roe deer, both males and females, do not have horns; they use their long fangs to defend themselves. Male muntjacs have both fangs and horns, while females have neither fangs nor horns.

Expanded

Traits of the herb

1, horse deer antlers: branched, usually divided into 4 ~ 6 branches, the total length of 50 ~ 120cm. the main branch is curved, the diameter of 3 ~ 6cm. the base of the disk, with irregular verrucous protuberances, habitually known as the "pearl disk", surrounded by sparse, often with a few fangs. The base is discoid, with irregular verrucous protuberances, habitually known as "pearl discs", often with sparse and tiny holes in the periphery. Lateral branches more to one side of the extension, the first branch and the pearl disk closer together, and the main stem at right angles or obtuse angle out.

The second branch is close to the first branch, which is called "sitting branch"; the second branch is farther away from the third branch. The surface is gray-brown or gray-yellow, glossy, with smooth horn tips, often with warty protrusions in the middle and lower parts, known as "bone nails", and with intermittent longitudinal ribs of varying lengths, known as "bitter gourd ribs". The texture is hard, and the outer ring of the section is bony, grayish-white or slightly light brown, and the middle part is grayish-brown or greenish-gray, with honeycomb holes. Gas slightly, taste slightly salty.

2, plum antler: usually divided into 3 ~ 4 branches, the whole length of 30 ~ 60cm, diameter 2.5 ~ 5cm. lateral branches more to the sides, the first branch and the pearl disk closer together, the second branch and the first branch farther apart, the end of the main branch is divided into two twigs. Surface yellowish brown or grayish brown, branch end grayish white. There are obvious bone spikes below the end of the branch, longitudinally arranged into "bitter gourd ribs", and the top is grayish-white or grayish-yellow, with luster.

Baidu Encyclopedia - Deer