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MOOSE ANTLER SHEDS The questions I am most often asked: Are they real? YES! Did you kill them? NO! How do you find them? It isn't easy! All of the antlers on my website I find in the mountains of Maine. One does not usually just stumble upon an antler laying on the ground. We live on the outer edge of a town that is on the outer edge of civilization (Just look at Andover on a map!) Because there are no people here, there seem to be lots of moose. I am no biologist, but I spend a lot of time roaming the mountains. If you pay attention, you'll see signs that tell you where the moose "hang out". They don't just roam aimlessly. Like most animals, they have seasonal territories. While not a herding animal, moose seem to gather up high in winter near an "easy" food source. If you pay close attention, you'll see patterns in places where they have spent their time. Where they most often travel, trails develop, and you'll see tracks. Where they bed (rest) you'll see large melted impressions in the snow, full of long, coarse black hairs. Where they most often eat (browse), hardwood brush grows thick and short, maple bark is stripped off, and small fir tree tops are chewed bare of their needles. And where they... well...anyways, you'll see their droppings, lots of droppings, piles of it. If all these "signs" are very abundant and new, then, you'll probably see them! And if it happens to be late December or early January, you'll probably find an antler or two, or even more. In these "hot spots" I usually see lots of tracks under a softwood canopy, and a few small trees rubbed bark-free by antlers; I presume the "loosening" antlers irritate the moose and he wants them off!           Here I am digging one out of the deep snow. My husband technically found it, but let me have the "thrill" of the dig. Moose antlers drop off each year after mating season ends. Mother Nature makes it easier for the moose to survive winter without those 40 extra pounds. In early spring, the male (bull) moose's new antlers begin to grow at an incredible rate, reaching full size by the autumn mating season. The size and shape of his antlers is determined by heredity, age and health. Broken tines (points) may be the result of battles between males during mating season; deformities are usually caused by damage to the antlers while they are rapidly growing, "in velvet" before hardening into bone. The "antique" look you see in some of my antlers is because the antler was laying in the woods for several years before I found it. The sun bleaches the antler's natural brown color out, it develops hairline cracks from drying, and small rodents will chew on the tines for minerals. Larger animals like bear and coyotes also chew on them much like a dog chews on a bone. Some of the larger antlers I have found weigh more than 22 lbs each and measure over 40" long! Here is my husband showing off his find. We usually split up and make a contest of it... I usually win! I confess ... this is my favorite part of my "work week"... Hiking and snowshoeing in the woods, in search of new canvases! Even if I don't come home with a prized antler, I usually have a backpack full of mushrooms. And if I didn't find any mushrooms, at least I got some exercise and my dog Tundra is happy about our walk! Here I am lugging HIS antler down the mountain! BRENDA MOORE STICKNEY   ANDOVER, MAINE