>Doug, I shot a bull in
>unit 2 last year, and
>his ivories looked exactly the
>same as yours, worn to
>gumline, almost nothing there, there
>are no "ends" to photograph.
> I seem to recall
>they only aged him at
>6 or 7, so while
>a mature bull he was
>not ancient. I was
>told that the dust is
>extremely abrasive in that area,
>and is so fine it
>coats everything the animals eat,
>thus there teeth get worn
>down faster than usual.
There is some merit to this "dust" statement.
I know that during drought conditions, where the desert sheep need to eat plants close to the ground, their teeth get worn down very quickly. Tooth wear is a real issue and the animals will starve if it becomes prolonged or severe.
Zeke