What’s Happening to the Caribou at the Minnesota Zoo?
You're walking around the Minnesota Zoo checking out all of the amazing animals when you turn a corner and it's as if you walked into a spooky, live Halloween exhibit! It looks like the caribou got into a bad fight or something because their antlers look absolutely nasty. What the heck is going on?
Not to worry, the caribou did not get into a fight, but their antlers do look really gross right now. If you pay a visit to the Minnesota Zoo soon you can see it for yourself. The zoo posted about it on their Facebook page recently.
Why Do the Caribous Antlers Look Like That?
So why do the caribou at the zoo look like they're getting ready for spooky season? Turns out, it's something totally natural that happens every year, so no need to be concerned.
The caribou are actually in the process of shedding the velvet from their antlers. So while it looks super gross it's supposed to happen. My understanding is that it's like a snake shedding its skin.
There you go, while it's at the perfect time of year to match the spookiness of Halloween, it's just something that the caribou deal with every fall. Check out this video of it happening in 2017.
And if you think that's interesting, keep scrolling to check out other fun facts about animals in the animal kingdom, specifically sleep-related facts. I'm pretty sure otters have the cutest fun fact of them all, but you be the judge.