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I think you are right. The only difference from fingernails is that when the antlers fall off there is bleeding. I get drops of blood where I feed the deer es

I think you are right. The only difference from fingernails is that when the antlers fall off there is bleeding. I get drops of blood where I feed the deer especially when they spar cross-pack. When they shed their antlers and some of them have bloody nubs that heal then form a smooth round nub and then the cycle repeats.

excalibur 4y ago
If you lose an entire fingernail, there's likely to be blood.
- LinuxBender 4y ago
  Yup and since humans trim or pick at their nails they don't get long enough to rip out as easily. I assume people with the extreme cases of YNS probably bleed when those gnarly nails get caught on things. Deer antlers shed even when they are tiny. I have a box full of their tiny ones that a neighbor turns into artwork.
Sharlin 4y ago
> I think you are right. The only difference from fingernails is that when the antlers fall off there is bleeding. This is far from the only difference, starting from the material (living bone tissue vs non-living keratin), and process of growth (the living tissue grows and branches like a tree, vs. being extruded like from a 3D printer by a special tissue at the root of the nail). Hair and nails are the same. Antlers are very unlike those two. Horns are a mixture, with a keratin shell covering living bone tissue.
- LinuxBender 4y ago
  I do not disagree with the composition. The reason I compare them to fingernails is that when a tip breaks off the tip does not regenerate. The broken tip remains broken. The antler may continue to grow out from the base but the tip will stay gone until they shed and regrow new antlers.
  - Sharlin 4y ago
    But the point was that I don't think they grow out from the base but instead from the tips! Branching wouldn't even be possible otherwise. A broken off antler tip may not regenerate, yes, but the reason is more like it develops scar tissue over the wound rather than just being made of inanimate protein like nails are.
lurquer 4y ago
Your comment reminds me of Steve Carrel’s character in “The Forty-Year-Old Virgin” when he inadvertently reveals his virginity by opining that women’s breasts feel like bags of sand. Nobody could ever confuse an antler - with skin, hair, blood, and bone — with a fingernail. Ha.

excalibur 4y ago

If you lose an entire fingernail, there's likely to be blood.

LinuxBender 4y ago
Yup and since humans trim or pick at their nails they don't get long enough to rip out as easily. I assume people with the extreme cases of YNS probably bleed when those gnarly nails get caught on things. Deer antlers shed even when they are tiny. I have a box full of their tiny ones that a neighbor turns into artwork.

Sharlin 4y ago

> I think you are right. The only difference from fingernails is that when the antlers fall off there is bleeding. This is far from the only difference, starting from the material (living bone tissue vs non-living keratin), and process of growth (the living tissue grows and branches like a tree, vs. being extruded like from a 3D printer by a special tissue at the root of the nail). Hair and nails are the same. Antlers are very unlike those two. Horns are a mixture, with a keratin shell covering living bone tissue.

LinuxBender 4y ago
I do not disagree with the composition. The reason I compare them to fingernails is that when a tip breaks off the tip does not regenerate. The broken tip remains broken. The antler may continue to grow out from the base but the tip will stay gone until they shed and regrow new antlers.
- Sharlin 4y ago
  But the point was that I don't think they grow out from the base but instead from the tips! Branching wouldn't even be possible otherwise. A broken off antler tip may not regenerate, yes, but the reason is more like it develops scar tissue over the wound rather than just being made of inanimate protein like nails are.

lurquer 4y ago

Your comment reminds me of Steve Carrel’s character in “The Forty-Year-Old Virgin” when he inadvertently reveals his virginity by opining that women’s breasts feel like bags of sand. Nobody could ever confuse an antler - with skin, hair, blood, and bone — with a fingernail. Ha.