I Find an Object that carries an Identifying Signature
Journal Notes: 14 May 2018
At the River Place last week, I found a shed deer antler at the base of one of the white oak trees I planted some years ago. Covered with damp oak leaves and partially hidden by new growth from this spring’s grass, it was only mildly weathered. It was not a freshly shed antler and yet it had not experienced any appreciable decay. I guessed that it had been on the ground not more than 2 years.
It was a 3-point, left-side antler with an ordinary brow tine and two un-branched, vertically-directed tines coming off the main beam. In most respects it was unremarkable in being of typical size and shape for a 3-point antler. The distinctive feature however, that separated it from most 3-point antlers, was that the 2ndtine coming off the main beam was the tallest of the two vertical tines; usually the tallest tine is the first one.A cursory examination of several 3-point antler-sets to which I had access revealed that in 9 out of 10 of these, the 1st-tine was the longest tine on the antler, in contrast to the shed antler that I found.
Identifying the deer that shed the antler –
Because I typically find whitetail sheds at the location where the antler was found and because the main beam of the found antler supported a series of single, upward-pointing, unbranched tines, I initially thought the antler was that of a whitetail buck. However, the antler possessed two features that were not characteristic of a whitetail: 1) the main beam did not turn sharply and sweep forward as strongly as in most whitetail antlers – rather, the turn from backward-directed to forward-directed main beam was shallow and the resultant beam direction was as much up as forward; 2) the brow tine, although present, was more of an accoutrement to the antler and did not lead off the series of upward-pointing tines as the brow tine usually does in whitetail deer.
Further, I have a very extensive photo record from my trail camera of bucks that visit the locality in which I found the antler. Even though there were photos of a few whitetail bucks with 3-point antlers in my record, none carried this distinctive antler. My trail camera record of whitetail bucks is sufficiently thorough that it is unlikely that a buck could have visited and not had his picture taken.
Representative 3pt Whitetail –
Typical tine-length sequence on both Antlers 3pt Mule Deer - Bearer of distinctive left antler
1st tine on both left and right antlers is the 1st tine relatively short on left antler, long on
longest tine on each antler. right antler.
Prominent brow tine Unremarkable brow tine
Could it be that this antler was dropped by a mule deer? After all, the mule deer characteristic in which tines branch dichotomously may not be exhibited in a 3-point antler. With just 3-points, the form of a mule deer antler may approximate that of a whitetail. I reviewed my photos of mule deer bucks taken in the last three years. As with the whitetails, there were a few mule deer bucks in the photo-record that carried 3-point antlers. And one of these bucks did indeed carry the distinctive left antler that I found next to the oak tree! His picture was taken in 2016. Actually, several pictures of this deer were taken with both the trail camera at the pear tree and with the telephoto system that I use for pictures of deer at a distance up on the hillside. The date of 2016 was right because it meant that the antler had been on the ground for about 1.5 years, which is consistent with the weathered status of the antler when I found it. Thus, the mystery of the antler’s origin was solved.hich is consistent with the weathered status of the antler when I found it. Thus, the mystery of the antler’s origin was solved.hich is consistent with the weathered status of the antler when I found it. Thus, the mystery of the antler’s origin was solved.
Identification is first step in discovering an animal’s story -
I believe that individual animals have interesting stories that would provide endless entertainment if we could only know them. For instance, the buck that carried this distinctive antler may have escaped from attacks by mountain lions. No doubt, he had several unpleasant interactions with coyotes. He may have experienced competitive clashes with other bucks and it would be interesting to know how he fared, i.e., what was his standing among his peers? Was he a successful breeder or was he relegated to satellite status? What experiences did he have with famine and with disease? How old is he? Judging from the antler his age is probably in the range of 4 years but he could be more or less than that. The full story of this animal will never be known but it may be possible to know a piece of his story if we use the information that we have at hand.
For instance, I know that when I saw him on the hillside and photographed him with the telephoto system, he was alone and traveling across the hills with no stopping or pausing. He was panting hard. What was up with him? Was he running from something or was he going to something? The full photo portfolio of this buck was taken on three different days during November indicating that this buck hung around the cabin for much of the rut. Now with the found antler, which must have been shed sometime during the months of January through March, I also know that he was in the cabin’s vicinity during those late-winter months suggesting that he probably wintered there. Breeding grounds and wintering grounds were one and the same for this animal.
Not much of a story, but at least it has more content than just an isolated photo or a found antler.
Reflections on Features that Identify an Animal or a Person for that Matter –
My mind now wanders to the abstract as I think of the animal as an individual creature and of the bony antler as the signature that marks his identity. From my vantage of the beast, only the antler has individuality. I know nothing else about the deer to distinguish him from other buck mule deer; nothing about his behavior, nothing about his facial features, and nothing about uniqueness of his individual body parts. With sketchy observations, all mule deer bucks look and act the same to me. Only their antlers set them apart. All of their identity is contained in this bony appendage that begins as a soft tender growth in April and continues to become a hardened, formidable piece of armament by September when it is used for display and dominance behavior during a single breeding season. Then, it is discarded; shed by March. Whatever was invested in that antler by that deer is gone, lost to him forever.
A new signature is then grown during the ensuing year. With this new identity, does the buck become a different deer? The only way I have of identifying this animal is through the antler that I now have on top of my dresser. The buck may now be up on the top of the ridge or in the next ravine to the east but his identity is in my bedroom. I will never know even one more piece of this animal's tale. For all intents and purposes, the story of the ephemeral buck that carried this antler is over. I stole that animal’s identity when I picked up his antler and transported it to the top of my dresser.
Which leads me to wonder about my own identity - how much of my identity, i.e., the characteristics by which I am known to others, is really not a permanent part of me? Do I periodically shed these characteristics and then take on a new identity as I transition to a new condition in my life? Does somebody pick up my old characteristics and store them on their dresser to be indelibly preserved while my true self takes on another persona before it fades away?
All of which seems a little farfetched until I look at the wall just above my dresser and see a glassed-in curio box containing keepsakes from the life of my father. In the box are souvenirs of Dad’s athletic accomplishments, of his work life, of his recreational pursuits. One item in that curio box is a snap shot of Dad standing next to the hanging carcass of a large 4-point buck with outstanding antlers. It was the largest and the last of several deer he harvested during his many years of deer hunting. The picture stands next to the first-place medal he won in the shot put of the 1937 Far Western Conference track meet, and next to his favorite bait-casting reel that was used to bring in so many fish over the years, and next to the worn pocket knife that he carried for so many seasons, and next to the 20-year service pin from the company he dutifully served during his working career, and next to the polished-stone belt buckle he fabricated during the last years of his life. These are bits and pieces of his identity. It is a strange twist of fate that deer antlers from his last big buck played a role in forming the signature of Dad’s identity on my bedroom wall and that his signature lies just above the distinctive antler dropped at the base of the oak tree by the ephemeral buck who lost his identity when he lost his antler.
But these scattered pieces of curio hardly tell the full story of my generous, loving, humorous, proud, hardworking, committed, and devoted father. People are more complex than deer and their identity is as multifaceted as the people they interface with. For Dad, with the passing of his wife and mother of his children, his full identity is now writ only in the minds and memories of his four children - he was first and foremost a family man. Probably, each child holds a different version of his identity; my sister and I share a similar version and my two brothers share a somewhat different version. There is no truth in any one version, Dad, no doubt, was all the things we collectively imagined him to be. Although there are differences in characteristics within the collective vision, we would all subscribe to the list of attributes in this paragraph’s opening sentence. I feel safe in claiming that not one of those endearing attributes that were so central to my father’s identity was shared by the buck that dropped its distinctive 3-point antler next to the oak tree.
The identities of wild things and family members come together on my bedroom wall. I often ponder these things before I fall asleep.
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