Hand feeding Whitetail deer in the velvet

This sanctuary for whitetail deer is not for hunting. These deer are safe, well fed and loved. Every year this place is visited by tourists wanting to get up close and personal with these beautiful animals. These bucks are "in the velvet". Their Antlers are actually the fastest growing tissue known to man. During the time the antlers are growing, they are covered with “velvet”, a soft hairy skin that supplies blood to the growing antlers. When the antlers are full size, the velvet starts to die and fall off. The bucks will rub their antlers on brush and trees to help the velvet come off. The antlers are fully grown late summer, and it is during the winter that they will lose their antlers only to re-grow them the following year. Its Fascinating and wonderful.