Did you know? 👀

With the recent harvest of my elk, I wanted to share something with yall. . .

Did you know that elk have ivory?!

They do! There’s not many sources of ivory that are native to North America, but elk have one of them.

They have ivory teeth! But not all of their teeth.

Elk are ruminants, which means they have a ruminant digestive system, have an even number of toes, and don’t have top teeth. . . .except for their ivories.

Some people call them whistlers. Some folks called them buglers. I call them ivories or just elk teeth.

I have quite the collection of teeth from over the years. I think I’ve collected enough of them to practically be a dentist 😋🤣 I’m for hire. I work cheap, but you have to sign a waiver (I’m kidding, mostly).

I’ve seen many pictures of Native women’s dresses adorned with ivories and they’re just so beautiful!

Others use them for jewelry, which is also beautiful. I hope to have a ring made with one of my teeth eventually! But for now, my collection just sits in a bowl 🤣

The ivories in the photo are from the cow I harvested last week. Cows have significantly smaller ivories than bulls.

I know some might find it odd, but I love them! Every set of ivories I have remind me of a special hunt and the sacrifice that a beautiful critter made so that I may live.