In summer, male deer grow antlers, and when they're first growing those antlers, they're covered with velvet.

It's skin like surface around those antlers full of blood vessels that help nourish the bone as it's growing.

But eventually, the velvet dries up and begins to slip off.

Deer often rub against small twigs and trees like these to scrape off that velvet as they kind of brush or tangle their antlers into these twigs, and eventually their antlers become devoid of all of that velvet.

So not only do bark shrubs serve as a way to slough off the velvet, but they're also marking cues.

Male deer will often use bark shrubs as they're known to mark their territory and let other deer in the area know that this is their spot.

This little cluster of rubs and twigs, even this one that's been broken off, is right along a pathway that connects to farm fields, and it's likely that at least one bark is traveling past here on a routine basis to go from field to field to feed.

It's letting other deer know that this is its territory.

Not only are these visual clues for the deer, but they're also olfactory clues.

Deer have glands on their forehead near the base of the antlers that, when rubbed against a surface, will release of pheromones.

And so the buck rubs off and have a scent affiliated with them that other deer can pick up.

And again, it serves to notify deer that there is at least one bug in this area, and even Doze will sometimes come up to these back rubs and sniff them and even occasionally rub up against them Perhaps perhaps to pick up those pheromones may be to identify a strong bark in the area for mating in the future.

If you're walking along and you see this sloughed off bark and scrapes, you'll kno there's at least one deer in the area, perhaps traveling from place to place.

Remember, you can find your own outdoor elements if you visit area parks and natural areas We'll see you soon.