THE PRONG BUCK 917 



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together with their young, probably for mutual protection against coyotes; the old 

 bucks in the meantime go off alone, each by himself or at most two together, leav- 

 ing the young bucks and young does together in small bands. The old bucks now 

 for a month or two wander a great deal, and are seen in the timber lands, and in 

 other places where they never go at any other season of the year, evidently ' tired 

 of the world ' and fleeing from society. After two or three months, the young 

 bucks and does join the old does and their kids, and finally, by the first of Septem- 

 ber, all are together once more in bands of hundreds. or thousands. Any par- 

 ticular band of antelopes does not leave the locality where they grow up, and never 

 ranges more than a few miles in different directions. ' ' 



At the present day prongbuck are seldom, however, met with in numbers any- 

 thing like those just mentioned. During the pairing season the bucks are com- 

 bative and frequently engage in fierce contests among themselves. In defense of her 

 young the female prongbuck is said to exhibit great boldness, sometimes even beat- 

 ing off the attacks of the coyote by the vigorous use of both horns and hoofs. Audu- 

 bon and Backman, in describing the contests between the bucks, state that, "when a 

 male sees another approaching, or accidentally conies upon one of his rivals, both parties 

 run at each other with their heads lowered and their eyes flashing angrily, and while 

 they strike with their horns they wheel and bound with prodigious rapidity, giving 

 and receiving severe wounds; sometimes, like fencers, getting within each others' 

 ' points,' and each hooking his antagonist with the recurved branches of his horns." 



In spite of their extreme speed, prongbuck are but poor jumpers, and appear 

 unable to leap over any large object that may be in their path; this incapacity being 

 attributed to the open nature of the country which these animals generally frequent. 

 Mr. Caton states that "this inability to leap over high objects may no doubt be 

 attributable to the fact that they live upon the plains, where they rarely meet with 

 such obstructions, and so they and their ancestors for untold generations have had 

 no occasion to overleap high obstructions, and thus from disuse they do not know 

 how to do it, and never attempt it when they do meet them." The same writer 

 also states that if a prongbuck on the plains desires to cross the railroad track, when 

 alarmed by the cars, as is sometimes the case, he will strain every muscle to outrun 

 the train and cross ahead of it, as if he suspected a purpose to cut him off from cross- 

 ing; and thus many an exciting race has been witnessed between muscle and steam. 

 When excited during its gambols with its fellows, or by the emotions of rage or fear, the 

 appearance of the prongbuck alters considerably. On such occasions, writes Mr. Caton, 

 ' ' the hair of the white patch on the rump rises up, and assumes a more or less curved 

 radial position from a central point on each side of the vertebrae. From these points the 

 hairs radiate in every direction, only they are as nearly erect as their curved radial posi- 

 tion will permit. It is impossible to give a just idea of this appearance by words." 



The prongbuck is readily tamed when in captivity; and all who have eaten it 

 bear testimony as to the excellence of its flesh. The brittle nature of the hairs renders 

 the fur of but little value, and it does not appear that the skins are much used as 

 leather. As might be inferred from the nature of its habits, the prongbuck is 

 exclusively a grazing animal; and in captivity avoids browsing on leaves, except 

 when no other food is available. 



