THE YELLOWSTONE PARK 17 



It is an extremely difficult matter for a novice 

 at antelope hunting to spot the game, either when 

 there is no sun, or when the sun is at their backs. 

 Their conspicuous colouring blends with the light 

 and shadow of the sage, where they are chiefly 

 to be found, in a most extraordinary manner. I 

 watched a small buck one evening standing against 

 a background of trees some hundred yards or so 

 distant. Even though I knew his exact position 

 I had continually to put my glass to my eyes to 

 make sure that he was still there. 



The rump is covered with fine white hairs. The 

 outermost ones, four or five inches in length, 

 can be erected at will ; at the base of these is a 

 kind of oily secretion having a strong musky odour. 

 It serves for purposes of communication, in the 

 same manner as do the glands on the legs of a deer. 



During the rutting season, which begins about 

 the beginning of October, one may find here and 

 there in little openings among the sage bush, flat 

 dusty patches, heavily scored with the buck's sharp 

 little hoofs. Here his lovesick passions break loose, 

 though I have never seen one thrashing a bush 

 with his horns as a stag will do. The bucks are 

 determined fighters, and Williams, one of our guides, 

 told me that the clash of their horns could be heard 

 at a great distance. 



When alarmed, they utter a kind of snort which 

 can be heard four or five hundred yards off on a 

 still day. I have also heard does make a curious 



