A Trip on the Prairie 201 



But while so much more wary than deer, it is 

 also at times much more foolish, and has certain 

 habits some of which, such as its inordinate curi- 

 osity and liability to panic, have already been al- 

 luded to that tend to its destruction. Ordinarily, 

 it is a far more difficult feat to kill an antelope than 

 it is to kill a deer, but there are times when the for- 

 mer can be slaughtered in such numbers that it be- 

 comes mere butchery. 



The prong-horn is pre-eminently a gregarious ani- 

 mal. It is found in bands almost all the year 

 through. During the two or three days after -he has 

 shed his horns and while the new ones are growing 

 the buck retires to some out-of-the-way spot, and 

 while bringing forth her fawns the doe stays by her- 

 self. But as soon as possible each again rejoins the 

 band; and the fawns become members of it at a re- 

 markably early age. In the late fall, when the bitter 

 cold has begun, a large number of these bands col- 

 lect together, and immense herds are formed which 

 last throughout the winter. Thus at this season a 

 man may travel for days through regions where an- 

 telope are most plentiful during the hot months 

 and never see one; but if he does come across any 

 they will be apt to be in great numbers, most prob- 

 ably along the edge of the Bad Lands, where the 

 ground is rolling rather than broken, but where 

 there is some shelter from the furious winter gales. 

 Often they will even come down to the river bottom 

 or find their way up to some plateau. They now al- 

 ways hang closely about the places they have chosen 



