The Allure of Big Antlers

I can't help finding the Irish elk wonderfully ridiculous. The reaction probably has something to do with the fact that we are all familiar today with deer, moose and other animals that look for the most part like the Irish elk, except for that extravagant rack. Irish elk grew the biggest antlers ever recorded, stretching over ten feet across and weighing about 90 pounds. Of course, for the people who lived alongside the Irish elk in Europe and Asia before its extinction 7000 years ago, it probably didn't seem terribly ridiculous at all--no more ridiculous than an orangutan or a river dolphin look to us today. And the way things are going, orangutans and river dolphins may not be long for this world. After they're gone, people will look back at pictures of them the way we look at pictures of the Irish elk, and imagine they were just made ...