Velvet

Take a close look at the deer's rack of antlers and what do you see? Take a closer look (Yeah Double Click) The deer is shedding its velvet. This small buck was happy to pose for a trail camera picture last fall. You're not going to see this too often, because when they shed their velvet, they drop it quickly.




While an antler is growing it is covered with skin called velvet, which supplies oxygen and nutrients to the fastest growing bone found in nature (not even a tumorous growth grows faster.) Once the antler has achieved its proper size, the velvet is lost and the antler's bone dies. This dead bone structure is the mature antler. Antlers come in all different sizes and configurations. Depending upon the amount of nutrients and food the animal eats, the bigger the antler size.




This photo was taken from Flickr.com *not mine*



The biggest factor in producing the largest antler size though is age. If a Buck reaches full maturity which is 5 and half years of age, the deer will have it's largest rack. After the rut, a.k.a. **mating season**, antlers are shed, and survival mode kicks in. They have lost a considerable amount of weight through chasing those "hot" does; all they think about is food consumption.