Believe it or not, this isn’t a skull cap.
Shed antlers come in all shapes and sizes. One consistent trait, however, is the fact that each side is fused to the skull by a separate pedicle. Two antlers equal two pedicles, or at least that was the train of thought until now.
Feast your eyes on the following “set” of sheds. Jim Bowker and Jay Hartley, found these antlers in Kansas, which resemble a skull cap at first glance. However, it’s actually a set of antlers that share one pedicle and were shed at the same time.
So, what caused it? The most likely theory is a skull injury between the two antlers, which caused both pedicles to fuse together to form one singular unit. At least that’s the belief of David Osborn, a deer research coordinator at the UGA Deer Lab, who has come across a similar shed antler once before.
Talk about a once-in-a-lifetime find!
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