Antler arches of WY
February 6, 2011 12:17 PM   Subscribe

Large elk antler arches in Jackson Hole & Afton, WY. (Btw, it seems that that antlers fall off naturally, so most of them are collected by Boy Scouts, not shot by hunters)

(flickr slideshow above continues until you click it off)
posted by growabrain (20 comments total) 3 users marked this as a favorite
 
Hey, home! I grew up in Jackson Hole.

The difference between antlers and horns is that antlers shed annually, whereas horns grow over the course of an animal's life.
posted by rosa at 12:21 PM on February 6, 2011 [2 favorites]


The difference between antlers and horns is that antlers shed annually, whereas horns grow over the course of an animal's life.

I came here to say this, but was beaten to it. Carry on.
posted by hippybear at 12:34 PM on February 6, 2011


I imagine antler arch-building is a skill you don't get to sell very widely, or often. I mean, you don't really see back-page ads in the local alternative newsweekly that say "if you've got 150+ elk antlers I'll come and build that arch for you."

Anyway, what sort of bugs me about these is that they're intrinsically about nothing so much as how gosh darn many antlers were involved. They don't really express anything of the antler's form and characteristics -- except to the extent that the overall effect is rather spiky, like a razorwire barrier, or more organically perhaps something H.R.Giger might paint, or more recently something the Star Trek designer thinks expresses Romulan-ness. But generally all they do is say OMFG look how many antlers.
posted by George_Spiggott at 12:46 PM on February 6, 2011 [2 favorites]


Anyway, what sort of bugs me about these is that they're intrinsically about nothing so much as how gosh darn many antlers were involved.

Well, that right there is something, isn't it? I mean, it's a pretty incredible thing that nature does, causing these animals to grow annually these increasingly complex crowns of boney matter which mostly is used to attract mates and fight off competitors, and then to shed all that expended biological energy onto the ground like giant skin cells or whatever.

And isn't antler chairs kind of a thing in olde worlde europe? Like, German Jäger clubs and stuff, or Vikings?
posted by hippybear at 12:51 PM on February 6, 2011 [3 favorites]


yes. it's a post about nothingness, or rather 'many things organized neatly'
posted by growabrain at 12:51 PM on February 6, 2011 [2 favorites]


Nearby The National Elk Refuge is the winter home to almost 8000 wapiti (Amercan Elk). Since the 1950s Boy Scouts have been granted a permit to collect and auction the antlers for a fundraiser. The Elk Arches were once the scene of the finish of a famous cinematic bare knuckled boxing match
posted by humanfont at 12:53 PM on February 6, 2011 [1 favorite]


I've seen these arches and I thought they were pretty cool.
posted by theora55 at 1:06 PM on February 6, 2011 [2 favorites]


I enjoyed seeing those arches in Jackson this summer. There's a geocache associated with them too, if that's something you're into.
posted by blaneyphoto at 1:12 PM on February 6, 2011


We buy are dog free range antlers instead of rawhide chews, she loves them.
posted by Mick at 1:13 PM on February 6, 2011


Related: horn chairs
posted by benzenedream at 1:21 PM on February 6, 2011 [1 favorite]


I saw these in person 15 years ago when I was a teenager on a trip with my school. It's impressive but in an ugly sort of way.
posted by Fizz at 1:46 PM on February 6, 2011


This is so much awesomer than what I was picturing before I clicked the link. Very, very cool, thanks!
posted by naoko at 3:31 PM on February 6, 2011


it seems that that antlers fall off naturally --- I once knew a guy who saved all of his finger and toe nail clippings in a mason jar. He'd been doing it for decades, so the jar was surprisingly full. Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures to upload to Flickr.
posted by crunchland at 3:37 PM on February 6, 2011


They don't really express anything of the antler's form and characteristics

Yes, I suppose here on Metafilter we want pictures of pictures and antlers of antlers.
posted by taursir at 4:51 PM on February 6, 2011 [1 favorite]


benzenedream: Related: horn chairs

Holy crap that is freaking awesome. Someone do an FPP about the most bad-assed chairs on earth.
posted by paisley henosis at 5:36 PM on February 6, 2011


I once knew a guy who saved all of his finger and toe nail clippings in a mason jar. He'd been doing it for decades, so the jar was surprisingly full. Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures to upload to Flickr.

Thank you.
posted by Bummus at 8:58 PM on February 6, 2011


I once knew a guy who saved all of his finger and toe nail clippings in a mason jar.

I've known at least a couple of Santeria followers who would do this, and would burn any hair they pulled out of their brush. One even went to far as to never go to a barber because he needed to keep control of his own bits of body. Apparently in Santeria people can do bad things to you if they get a hold of bits of your body.
posted by hippybear at 9:08 PM on February 6, 2011


I once knew a guy who saved all of his finger and toe nail clippings in a mason jar.

One of my wife's college roommates saved all her scabs in a jar. I don't know what she did with them or whether its an on-going collection. I'm not particularly interested to find out, either.
posted by blaneyphoto at 9:27 PM on February 6, 2011


We buy are dog free range antlers instead of rawhide chews, she loves them.

You'd think the woods would be full of deer antlers, since they fall off every year. But according to my dad, coyotes like to carry them off. Wilderness chewtoys, I guess.
posted by memewit at 9:30 PM on February 6, 2011


If you live in an area with deer (as most people do), you can also train a dog to hunt antlers for you. Dogs are a lot more efficient and joyful about the process than Boy Scouts!

Antler dog training is quite the burgeoning cottage industry.
posted by ErikaB at 1:32 PM on February 8, 2011


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