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Why do deer grow velvet on their antlers?
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Antlers are exposed bone, kind of like your teeth. They are shed each year in the winter. While the antlers are developing in the spring, they are covered in velvet. The velvet, as American Hunter said, supplies the growing antler with nutrients and oxygen. As the amount of daylight changes, the antlers harden, turn into bone, and shed the velvet. You can read more about antler growth by visting the sites below.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antler
http://www.whitetailstewards.com/articlesonsite/deerbiology/antlergrowthandphysiology.htm
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