THE AMERICAN ANTELOPE 



749 



figures, in the Proceedings of that Society for 1880, and 

 it fully sustains what Caton and many others have 

 observed." 



Although I have seen hundreds of antelope on the 

 Western Plains, I am free to confess that I have never 

 shot a buck in which the spikes on the head were in the 

 condition represented by Forbes; moreover, I found but 

 very few of the shed horns, yet I did find them and 

 good specimens ; some animal or other undoubtedly makes 

 away with them. The 

 plainsmen used to say 

 that porcupines were 

 very fond of them. 



Exceedingly curious 

 in character is the 

 coat of our antelope, 

 each hair being hol- 

 low, pointed, and 

 fragile; that is, when 

 once bent it nearly 

 breaks, and, owing to 

 its non-elasticity, will 

 not resume its straight- 

 ness. A close coat of 

 fine, white fur is 

 found next the skin 

 in this animal, and 

 Caton noticed that 



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"whenever it is excited in play, fright, or rage, the hair 

 on the white patch on the rump rises up and assumes 

 a more or less radial position from a central point on 

 each side of the vertebrae, as we sometimes see two 

 radial points on the hu- 

 man head." I would add 

 that the antelope also 

 erects the hair this way 

 when in great pain, which 

 I have observed in animals 

 of this species that I have 

 wounded and approached 

 to kill. This erect and 

 bristling bouquet of snow- 

 white hair is truly a beau- 

 tiful sight, and once seen 

 it is not likely to be for- 

 gotten. 



The antelope puts these 

 white patches to another 

 and a very different use. 

 By raising them and flash- 

 ing them, they are used as 

 signals, and are so recog- 

 nized by others within 

 sight. Such a signal is 

 given in times of danger, 

 as when a man or any 

 other enemy approaches, 

 and this fact I have noticed 

 many times on the plains ; 



INTERESTING PHASES IN THE FORMATION OF THE HORNS 



Figure 3. These are photographic copies by the writer from drawings by 

 J. Smit, illustrating a paper by the late William Alexander Forbes, 

 published in 1880. The upper left hand cut is a horn the day after the 

 shedding of the old one, and the cut on the right is the same horn 

 one month later. The head of the animal, which is drawn a little too 

 elongate, shows the left side view of a male antelope one day after 

 the shedding of the old horns. 



but so far as I am aware, it was first described in print 

 by Thompson Seton, who had likewise observed it. The 

 animals will also resort to it in parks where they are 

 kept in a state of semi-domestication. In the case 01 a 

 "bunch" on the prairie, the animal that discovers the 



approaching danger 

 will stand still, turn- 

 ing his or her rump 

 in such a way that all 

 the other antelopes in 

 sight can see it, be it 

 but a doe or a single 

 buck ; by alternately 

 raising and depressing 

 the two areas of glis- 

 tening white hair, the 

 peril which threatens 

 is indicated. Those 

 apprised of the dan- 

 ger will repeat the 

 signal, and sooner or 

 later all of them will 

 take advantage of it 

 and seek a place of 

 safety. It is remarkable how far such a signal can be 

 seen often very much farther than we can see the 

 antelope itself, as the general color of the animal harmon- 

 izes so well with the surroundings. There is an excel- 

 lent photograph of an antelope "flashing" in Stone and 

 Cram's "American Animals," taken of a live animal 

 on the plains. Female antelopes also develop a short pair 

 of horns, ranging from one to two inches long; and we 



may detect the rudimentary 

 horns of the male at birth, 

 but not those of the female. 

 As a rule, a female bears 

 a pair of kids at a birth, 

 but she may have only one ; 

 all of those I have seen 

 leading young have had 

 two. Doctor Rothrock.many 

 years ago, found in the ute- 

 rus of a slain female twins 

 that were largely united, as 

 is sometimes the case with 

 animals and plants ; but he 

 saved only the skulls, and 

 these were joined together 

 just back of the orbits. 



On one occasion, I was 

 hunting antelope some five 

 or six miles north of Fort 

 Fetterman, in Wyoming. 

 It was early in October, 

 and my success during the 

 day had been wretched, for 

 I had been tantalized sev- 

 eral times by the sight of 

 many antelope but had 



