Spotted on a neighbor’s property a few years ago, this handsome young buck was dressed to the nines in what else but…velvet!
And as he munched away on vegetation, in my head, I was hearing ‘she wore blue velvet…’, which of course was a tribute to Bobby Vinton (and Bernie Wayne, the author), as well as to my age.
But aside from that, I was able to snag a few photos that at the time, I thoroughly enjoyed, but since then, they’ve taken up space on my hard drive – at least until now.
And since I’m finally posting it here, I found his “velvet” interesting enough to at least Google ‘antler velvet’ and AI was kind enough to offer the following:
“As the antlers develop they’re covered by a nourishing coat of blood vessels, skin and short hair known as velvet—this supplies nutrients and minerals to the growing bone. When antlers reach their full size in late August or September, the velvet is no longer needed.”
Surprisingly, I also learned that although controversial, some athletes have used the velvet to increase their performance, and that others use it for medicinal and/or cosmetic purposes: ‘Laboratory and animals studies have shown that pilose, a protein found in antler velvet, has an anti-inflammatory effect. Antler velvet is also rich in chondroitin sulphate, collagen and glucosamine sulphate. The properties and make-up of the compound could make it a useful treatment in a variety of types of arthritis.’
But, don’t take my word for it; if it doesn’t work, I suspect you’d be singing Blue Velvet as well…