Is This A Buck That Shed Its Antlers?

Photographed yesterday afternoon.

I've included this photo because I think this may be a buck after shedding his antlers.  I'm guessing this from the marks on its head.

I have read that bucks grow and then shed antlers annually, shedding the antlers after mating season.  I also read that some bucks (the more successful ones at mating) retain their antlers a bit longer than the others. So, if this is a buck, it would be one that was not too successful at mating because there is still at least one stag in the neighborhood that still has its antlers, spotted last night. 

My source for this is Lone Star Menagerie:  Adventures with Texas Wildlife, by Jim Harris, published in 2000 by Republic of Texas Press.  This book is fascinating, with funny anecdotes and charming detail, full of information about the lives and habits of local animals.

The wikipedia article on antlers is interesting. It describes antlers as "one of the most exaggerated cases of male secondary sexual traits in the animal kingdom": I love it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antler

Rico Suave, Lucky Dog: A 10/10/10 Celebration

Rico Suave is a rescue dog who is about as lucky as lucky can be.

This is how he spent 10/10/10, at Bear Creek.

Update November 23, 2010:

Rico has a lot in common with another little guy named Pepe. Pepe lives at the Pasadena, California Humane Society and is in need of a family to make him a "lucky dog" like Rico.


Pepe and Rico also share underbites and the fact that they are mutts, strong and smart and loving.

Pepe is a blue-ribbon winner because he's a perfect companion: great temperament, thanks to his lab and pug genes. (Rico is also a perfect companion, though I don't think he has the blue ribbon to prove it, and being part terrier, he's naturally more feisty.) And he is waiting for his new family. Note: Pepe needs to be the only dog in the family, much like our beloved dog, Ember. Rico is also an only dog.

Update November 26:.

Pepe has been adopted.  And Rico had a fine Thanksgiving, with plenty of table scraps and hugs and nice laps to sit in.  (He's really a bit too large for the latter.) 

Happy Thanksgiving!

About the October 4th mystery of nature, the tree is a crape myrtle. Only one of its trunks (the center trunk) is twisted.

As to what caused this, nature or nurture, see this interesting discussion. It appears this was a harder question than I realized.

But I think we can rule out Paula's vine theory because of where it's located in my garden, because it's surrounding limbs are straight, because another tree in the yard has a vine growing in a spiral pattern around it, yet the trunk remains untwisted and, finally, because of what I know about the folks who planted this garden.

I also think we can rule out injury because trees never fully heal from an injury; the injured part is just walled off.

I also think we can rule out wind conditions because the other trunks are straight.

I supposed it could have been trained this way, but once again, this seems unlikely to have been done by the people who grew this garden.

I lean toward genetics to create this shape, but then, I have naturally curly hair, so I'm biased for that solution.

Twisted Tree Trunk

Okay, this is a two-parter.

First, do you know what this is?

Second, can you explain how it got so twisted?

Answers supplied, to the best of my ability--and I hope with help from you all--next Monday.

Thanks, Ann, for the inspiration for this quiz.