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What
is even more amazing is that they shed these giant racks annually, take a
few weeks off and then spend the next year growing them back!
The
same thing applies to deer and elk, but for sheer mass of bone, the moose
puts them to shame. Why is it that longhorn steers, wildebeest and
pronghorn antelope don’t shed their horns? Are they shy? Is it a fashion
consideration, a long-term commitment…do they need them year round to
fight, dig roots or write their name in the bark?
If
you want to salute the king of regeneration, look at the lizard. He has
the ability to lose his tail, have it broken off and grow a new one back.
Talk about commitment. That would be comparable to an elephant shedding
his trunk and growing a new one!
Maybe
with the advance of science, animation and genetic manipulation, we will
someday make it possible for an elephant to regenerate a lost trunk. By
incorporating lizard genes in the fertilized ovum, we could give new
meaning to the term, ‘nose job.’ Which leads me to male pattern
baldness. Unlike hearing loss, menopause and crankiness, which can be a
result of the aging process, loss of hair on the head doesn’t
necessarily conform to the rules.
Men
actually grow more hair in their beard, on their body, in their ears and
eyebrows as they get older. So why would some shed the plumage on their
head? As a warning to others in the clan of proof of their testosterone
level? So they can be more aerodynamic? To attract the 2% of females who
are also bald?
Which
takes us back to the top-heavy moose and his habit of shedding his horns
every year. It is one of those persistent questions that haunt the
universe.
As
is Uncle Leonard’s penetrating question on his 92nd birthday when he
turned Darwin on his head by asking, "Why can’t we shed our cojones
and keep our teeth!"
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