Saturday, not long after a couple of Canada geese were cleaned at our house, this young buck appeared in the yard with a half-dozen or so does and fawns. The deer were looking for, and finding, acorns. But much of the time this guy spent rubbing his still-developing antlers on a tree, trying to finish them from their velvet stage to the real thing, in advance of the fall rut. The close-up photo below shows one of the rag-tag antlers in transition from its velvet stage.
Looks painful, doesn't it? Chances are I'll be able to photograph this buck again sometime this fall. If so, I'll post a photo of his finished headgear.
