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smaller than a white-tail deer; and its hide 

 is valueless, being thin and porous, and mak- 

 ing very poor buckskin. In its whole ap- 

 pearance and structure it is a most singular 

 creature. Unlike all other hollow-horned an- 

 imals, it sheds its horns annually, exactly as 

 the deer shed their solid antlers; but the 

 shedding process in the prong-horn occupies 

 but a verf few days, so short a time, indeed, 

 that many hunters stoutly deny that it takes 

 place at all. The hair is of remarkable tex- 

 ture, very long, coarse, and brittle; in the 

 spring it comes off in handfuls. In strong 

 contrast to the reddish yellow of the other 

 parts of the body, the rump is pure white, 

 and when alarmed or irritated every hair 

 in the white patch bristles up on end, greatly 

 increasing the apparent area of the color. 

 The flesh, unlike that of any other plains ani- 

 mal, is equally good all through the year. 

 In the fall it is hardly so juicy as deer veni- 

 son, but in the spring, when no other kind 

 of game is worth eating, it is perfectly good ; 

 and at that time of the year, if we have to 



