Ram stabbed and killed by its own horn

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image showing Ram stabbed and killed by its own horn

Griffin_da_Great on June 7th, 2019 at 15:41 UTC »

I wonder about the actual death itself, since death is sudden and horn growth is slow. Did he just drop dead after it eventually poked the right spot?

Loysius on June 7th, 2019 at 15:59 UTC »

The growing horn probably didn't puncture his skull but just his flesh. Maybe he was killed by infection or a hunter. Maybe he is just chatting with the photographer and he is still alive. I mean, can you prove he is dead here?

Quinnley1 on June 7th, 2019 at 16:37 UTC »

Farmer here who has a goat with a wonkey horn that curls around and impales the side of her face unless I take a bone saw to it a few times a year to cut it back an inch or so.

The most likely way an animal with a horn curling into their body will die is by infection.

The horn tip is probably not sharp enough to pierce the skin, but over time as the horn grows will slooooowly irritate and rub open a wound. Maybe an infection hits them right away with a tiny scrape on their skin, maybe they live. If they live the horn continues to grow. Maybe an abcess forms around the wound and the infection from the abcess kills them. Maybe they live. The horn continues to grow. Now we're getting to the point of the horn probably rubbing on the bones of the jaw, blocking the goat from being able to open its mouth without pain and maybe even blocking its ability to open its mouth fully to access food in the most efficient way. Eventually the horn will start to wear away the bone itself. Infection is probably common by now, and the goat is in constant pain and unable to eat what it needs to maintain its full health. Eventually the constant stress on the body from pain, the inability to eat properly, and an already weakened immune system will fail and let infection take over.