206 Hunting Trips on the Prairie 



grass or under some slight bush, but are marvel- 

 ously hard to find. By instinct they at once know 

 how to crouch down so as to be as inconspicuous as 

 possible. Once we scared away a female prong-horn 

 from an apparently perfectly level hillside; and in 

 riding along passed over the spot she had left and 

 came upon two little fawns that could have been but 

 a few hours old. They lay flat in the grass, with their 

 legs doubled under them and their necks and heads 

 stretched out on the ground. When we took them 

 up and handled them, they soon got used to us and 

 moved awkwardly round, but at any sudden noise 

 or motion they would immediately squat flat down 

 again. But at a very early age the fawns learn how 

 to shift for themselves, and can then run almost as 

 fast as their parents, even when no larger than a 

 jack-rabbit. Once, while we were haying, a couple 

 of my cowboys spent half an hour in trying to run 

 down and capture a little fawn, but they were un 

 able to catch it, it ran so fast and ducked about so 

 quickly. Antelope fawns are very easily tamed and 

 make most amusing pets. We have had two or 

 three, but have never succeeded in rearing any of 

 them; but some of the adjoining ranchmen have 

 been more fortunate. They are not nearly so pretty 

 as deer fawns, having long, dangling legs and angu 

 lar bodies, but they are much more familiar and 

 interesting. One of my neighbors has three live 

 prong-horns, as well as two little spotted white-tail 

 deer. The deer fawns are always skulking about, 

 and are by no means such bold inquisitive creatures 



