Full disclosure: I did not know until this morning that animals of the cervine family periodically shed their entire rack of antlers.
If I had known that fact, I would have imagined a slower process, like birds molting their feathers or crabs discarding their old exoskeletons.
I would never have believed that the majestic antlers of a moose could be shaken off in a few seconds like a loose pair of sunglasses.
Yet that’s exactly what a doorbell camera caught on tape in the town of Houston, Alaska this month. It seems to take about three seconds for this moose to shake off antlers that took an entire season to grow.
Maybe it’s just moose that can detach their antlers as easily as changing the ears on Mr. Potato Head? But that’s not the case. Thanks to the wonders of YouTube, I now know that elk or deer seem to cast off their racks just as easily as their cervine cousins in Alaska.
Yes, it’s adorable to watch. But just remember that a moose — with or without antlers — can be a very dangerous animal.
