72 CONSERVATION OF CANADIAN WILD LIFE 



Over many portions of this range they roamed in uncount- 

 able herds. To-day over the same territory a few thousand 

 are able to exist, solely on account of the absolute protection 

 that they are given in our western provinces and all of the 

 States. It is the same story of extermination following the 

 advent of man armed with rifles and the extension of agri- 

 culture. The settlement of the country and the construc- 

 tion of railroads have also introduced a new factor, namely 

 the wire-fence, that has had a very marked effect in con- 

 fining the remaining herds to restricted areas and thus pre- 

 venting their normal migration. 



One visitor to the West in the early "seventies" has de- 

 scribed to me how the prairie seemed to vibrate with the 

 galloping of these swift little creatures, and how they were 

 slaughtered to such an extent that their outstretched car- 

 casses were piled in heaps like cord-wood. 



Not only is it the most graceful of the hoofed animals of 

 America, but it is so unique in its characters that it con- 

 stitutes the sole member of a special family found nowhere 

 else in the world. On that account alone its extinction 

 would be a calamity. Its chief title to scientific distinction 

 consists in the fact that hke the cattle tribe it has hollow 

 horns, but unlike them it sheds the outside sheath each year, 

 just as the members of the deer tribe shed their antlers. In 

 the latter case it is the whole horn or antler that is shed; but 

 in the case of the antelope only the outer sheath of the horn 

 is shed. The inner core remains and gives rise to the new 

 horn, which is pronged; and hence the name, "pronghorn," 

 by which the species is more correctly known, as the animal 

 is not a true antelope. 



Scarcely more than three feet at the shoulder in height, 

 these little animals are well adapted to the life of the great 

 plains. One of their striking peculiarities is the possession 

 of a white chrysanthemum-like patch of hair on the rump. 

 This hair is erectile at will and serves as an excellent sig- 



