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The longer the summer days, the longer the antlers of deer, elk, elk, and other animals in the cervid or deer family. Animals spend most of the summer grazing, their head arms are covered with downy velvet. But by the end of September, the horns will be ready to go into action as the male suitors gather to stance, bow, and raise their heads—a behavior some people may have in mind when they use the phrase “lock the horns.”
It is not always just a figure of speech. Every now and then, creepy photos pop up on the internet: the head of another man entwined in his horns. three white tailed deer dead in a stream, horns twisted in a complex mess. Two deer locked in death, block a ditch.
Beyond their shock value, these stories offer a glimpse of a strange quirk of evolution: The fierce-looking horns exist primarily for display. When animals try to use them as weapons, the results can be dire.
Several families of ungulates or ungulates use their horns in battle. Although antlers are sometimes confused with antlers, they are unique and anatomically different from the wider deer family, said David Petersen, a naturalist and author of Racks: A Natural History of Antlers and the Animals That Wear Them. Horns are permanent bone cores covered with keratin sheaths, while horns are bones that grow and shed seasonally, starting as velvety tubers and then sprouting into sharp branches.
Mr. Petersen said the horns developed primarily as visual advertisements. A healthy, well-fed animal will score more on its shelf, making it more competitive during the breeding season when males are trying to recruit their harems of females. An animal that has had a tougher year may have a less inspiring look.
“A series of antlers tells other males and females what stage of life and health a deer is at,” said Mr Petersen. “Bulls with the most dominant horns tend to do most of the breeding.”
Mr. Petersen said that while horns may seem like dangerous weapons, they are rarely used in this way. Cervids become noticeably more aggressive and territorial during the breeding season, but often avoid real fighting through a combination of stance, testing one another, and making false accusations. Cervid horns, in particular, are generally better at deflecting rather than dispersing blows.
But sometimes fights happen when passions rise. Some hoofed families—particularly cattle, goats, and antelope—are well-adapted to serious combat, with relatively smooth antlers that make fencing, beating, and separation easy. But the branching, twisting patterns of horns, which can vary in size and shape among animals, make roaming a real possibility.
Of the America’s cervids, white-tailed deer are the most prone to lockdown, said Alan Cain, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department White-Tailed Deer Program Leader. Bucks in the 3 to 5 year age range are most likely to fall victim due to their well-developed antlers. While still a fairly rare event, the relative frequency of news reports on locked deer is a result of high population numbers, which simultaneously makes accidents more likely and easier to find evidence of.
“The deer species are not well designed to be head over heels,” said Mr. Petersen. “When they do, the chances of locking the horns are pretty good. They usually manage to open them, but if they don’t, one or both of those animals will die.”
“There are several ways to die for locked cervids, and none of them are pretty,” Mr. Cain said. A pair of locked horns may struggle to die of exhaustion, starvation or thirst. In some cases, animals fighting near water can become entangled, fall, and drown each other.
Locked cervids also make attractive targets for predators such as coyotes. If both animals are dead, that’s a bonus for some predators – but not necessary.
“You can see coins locked where someone dies,” said Mr. Cain, “and watch the still-living dead being eaten in front of them.”
However, not all locked deer die. Deer that survive this experience are sometimes left with gruesome trophies – their fallen enemies’ heads lock up on their own until they shed their antlers and with it the unwanted cargo at the end of the estrus season.
Help can also come from an unexpected quarter.
“Sometimes a hunter or someone stumbles upon one of these animals and releases the living one,” said Mr. Cain.
Once, in South Texas, Mr. Cain was summoned to look at a pair of white-tailed dollars locked across from a business center. After securing the deer, he and his colleagues used a hacksaw to cut off the entangled antlers. The freed men staggered away.
Mr Petersen said that while there is often read about locked horns on the Internet, such incidents are quite unusual. When used properly as show instruments, horns are highly effective tools. But they also make treacherous weapons, and fighting them is a gamble.
“Evolution doesn’t develop systems that kill main breeders,” said Mr. Petersen. “When you see these things happen, it’s an evolutionary accident.”
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