I have found many deer antlers and have them on display in my home. I
have rinsed them off but don't know if they carry disease and need to
be cleaned with anything special so you don't get sick from them. Thank you.
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They often turn my stomach when I see some of the clowns who've taken them. I also get sick when the trophy 10 pointer I shot turns out to be a measley 8 when I walk up to him. But I regress.
Deer antlers cannot make you sick in and of themselves. They are dead bone (though Bill Yox and I still have our differences about the use of the word "bone"). They are no more of a hazard to your health than that Brillo pad or sponge under your sink. Though they MIGHT hold some contaminate, they, themselves are harmless.
I forget what we disagree about on that one, George. I think its bone, too.
Although Antlers and Horns both consist of bone, they are actually quite different: "Antlers differ from horns in that the former are shed annually, usually in mid-winter. In addition, they are solid bone with no outer sheath. Horns consist of a bony core and an outer sheath made of Keratinlike material '(like hair or fingernails)' or agglutinated hairs. Horns grow from the base, and an annual ring will show on the outer sheath each year. Proghorn shed the outer sheath each year and show no annual rings. Annual rings can be counted and used for age determination." (Big Game Of North America, Wildl. Mgmt. Inst., 1978)
Most Taxis know to clean out the inner, bone core in horns, leaving mainly the outer sheath. They will stink to high heavens (rotting) if this is not done because it was living bone (w/blood supply) when removed from a live animal. I agree with George that this could pose a Contaminant(sp) problem. The blood supply to antlers would have long since been gone on most animals shot for the purpose of a mount. I doubt that antlers could pose much of a health threat. Antlers in Velvet might be a different story though. Overall, I don't think that you have to worry about them making you sick, especially if you have a good Taxidermist... like George, Bill Yox, John C, Superpig, etc... :-) Li-Li
Antlers made me sick last Nov. when I saw them disappearing over a knoll still attached to a bruiser buck.
Bone is blood when it comes right down do it...so yes you can get sick from it.