Deer horn fight ! - Antlers !!!

 மான் கொம்பு சண்டை !  Antlers !

Anbukku Naan Adimai  released in 1980 starring Rajnikanth, Vijayan, Sujatha, Rathi, Jayamalini, directed by R. Thyagarajan and produced under the Devar with the music of Illayaraja was a super hit. 

Elsewhere in the financial market, the news causing more than ripples is that of Antler raising   $285 million in new fund for growth-stage startups.  The new fund, called Antler Elevate, would be managed from its offices in London, Singapore, and New York. M&G Catalyst, Schroders, Vaekstfonden, Korea Venture Investment Corp (KVIC), and a US pension fund are some of the investors in Antler's new fund.  Antler, is  a Netherlands-based venture capital (VC) firm that has added to the billions of dollars of undeployed VC capital as startups witness a prolonged funding winter. 

Antler comes from the Old French antoillier from ant-, meaning before, oeil, meaning eye and -ier, a suffix indicating an action or state of being. 

Physically, Antlers are like the beards on guys at hunting camp – they are secondary sexual characteristics that separate females and males but don’t directly contribute to reproduction.  Antlers are extensions of an animal's skull found in members of the Cervidae (deer) family. Antlers are a single structure composed of bone, cartilage, fibrous tissue, skin, nerves, and blood vessels. They are generally found only on males, with the exception of reindeer/caribou. 

Deers have antlers, and cattle have horns but in contrast to antlers, horns—found on pronghorns and bovids, such as sheep, goats, bison and cattle—are two-part structures that usually do not shed. A horn's interior of bone is covered by an exterior sheath made of keratin. Antlers are unique to cervids. The ancestors of deer had tusks (long upper canine teeth). In most species, antlers appear to replace tusks.   

Antlers are usually found only on males. Each antler grows from an attachment point on the skull called a pedicle. While an antler is growing, it is covered with highly vascular skin called velvet, which supplies oxygen and nutrients to the growing bone. 

The antlers atop the heads of al different kinds of deer - including the reindeer that live way up north - have to be tough enough to face off with others. Deers fight territorially and for their harem with their strong antlers – and mankind too uses these antlers for fight

 

Have seen this ‘deer horn’ fight in some films especially MGR films.  Remember a scene in Anbukku Naan Adimai where the well trained Karathe Mani and a frail looking Rajni fight with each other.

 
Does this photo of antlers look impressive !!
 
With regards – S. Sampathkumar
11.6.2023