Why are some staghorns soft and others bony?

Antlers begin to grow on the forehead of the male stag in very early spring. Actually, the little bumps are hard bone covered with soft, brownish velvety material. The outer material is tissue  •  skin, nerves and bloodvessels    which is there to nourish the growing antlers. The soft velvety covering grows with the antlers throughout the summer months. Only the outside of the horns is soft, inside is the hard, growing bone.

When fall comes, the stag has completed his full quota of antlers. He can grow no more, and the feeding and protecting fobs of the velvety covering is finished. It dries up and begins to fall off showing the hard, white antlers beneath. Mr. Stag helps peel away the. last remains by scratching and scraping his horns against tree trunks.

    He is now ready for combat with other stags. Come winter, the

fighting season is over, and the antlers of the stag fall off.