In Velvet

We went for a walk near Shurdington this afternoon and were lucky to catch a glimpse of this roe buck with its antlers in velvet. According to Wikipedia "The first and second set of antlers are unbranched and short (5-12 cm or 2.0-4.7 in), while older bucks in good conditions develop antlers up to 20-25 cm (8-10 in) long with two or three, rarely even four, points. When the male's antlers begin to regrow, they are covered in a thin layer of velvet-like fur which disappears later on after the hair's blood supply is lost. Males may speed up the process by rubbing their antlers on trees, so that their antlers are hard and stiff for the duels during the mating season. Unlike most cervids, roe deer begin regrowing antlers almost immediately after they are shed."