Have you ever wondered if there is a difference between horns and antlers? Well, there is! Horns are made of keratin—just like human hair and nails. There is no blood supply to horns. They form over a bone that is permanently attached to the head and are never shed. Animals like bighorn sheep, certain goats and cattle, and bison have horns. A moose has antlers. The moose’s antlers are soft and tender as they are growing and are covered with skin. This skin is called velvet and contains blood vessels that bring nutrients to the antlers as they grow. Once the antlers harden, the velvet falls off. A moose keeps his antlers (only male moose grow them) until December or January, when he sheds them to conserve energy during the winter months. Around March, the growing process begins again. Other animals with antlers are deer and caribou.
Why are a moose’s antlers useful? Males will use them to beat down brush to mark their territory; to fight with other males when looking for a mate; and to pull up the water plants they like to eat from the bottom of ponds. Once the antlers are shed, they can be useful to rodents like mice, who chew on them because they are a good source of calcium. Wouldn’t you rather have a glass of milk?
Because moose are so large, they like to live in a cool climate. They find temperatures above 80 degrees far too hot. In the summer, they can be found keeping cool around wetlands and swamps and munching on water plants. In the winter, they eat the young shoots, leaves and bark of willow and birch trees. Their huge size is discouraging to predators, but young moose are often preyed upon by wolves and bears.