I know deer shed their antlers, but I was wondering if goats and sheep can shed their horns.
– Paul. S Ridgefield, CT?
What an interesting question! In early fall to late winter bucks (male deer), begin to rub their antlers on trees to help remove the velvet that grows all summer long. This marks the start of rut, which is the name for mating season in certain mammals like deer, sheep, moose, and goats. White-tailed deer and moose grow antlers, which usually only grow in males. Antlers are fast growing and consist of a shell of hard bone surrounding a core of spongy bone and are shed annually. Mammals such as goats, sheep and cattle grow horns which are slow growing, and made of a hollow shell of keratin (same as fingernails) surrounding a bony core. They are present in male and females and are permanent!
My son saw a bunch of birds in the middle of the road eating something, he wants to know why they would eat their food in the middle of the road.
-Penelope. K Wilton, CTYour son is right to wonder this, what a silly place to eat your dinner right? What he most likely saw was a “wake”- the term for a group of vultures who are feeding. Unfortunately, wildlife is often struck or run over on our roadways and the cleaning crew isn’t always humans! Here in Connecticut we have two species of vultures; turkey vultures and black vultures. Both species primarily eat carrion, the decaying flesh of dead animals. These birds may not be attractive to some or as popular as a backyard bird feeder cutie, however, they are incredibly important to the environment. By eliminating the bodies of dead animals this helps to stop the spread of rabies, distemper, botulism, and tuberculosis. Most birds have very poor sense of smell, but scientists have done research that proves that turkey vultures have a highly developed sense of sight and smell. Their sense of smell is so amazing that they can detect dead meat from 8 miles away! •
