752 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



Figure 8. 



A BUCK AND TWO FEMALE AMERICAN ANTELOPES 



Photographed from life and presented to the author 

 A. C. Gould. 



This is as they appear on the open prairie, 

 by the late Mr 



said to myself and antelope they were, not over fifty 

 yards off. Quietly I reached for my carbine and cocked 

 it, but to shoot I would have to fire directly over Brown's 

 body use him as a rest, in fact. Two or three times I 

 sighted, and finally I was sure I could plug the leading 

 animal, an unusually fine buck. Glancing at my com- 

 panion's face to make sure he would not bite his tongue 

 off when the report came, I cracked away. Down went 

 the buck! Off went the other two! Clean off the 

 ground jumped Brown ! On his 

 feet in an instant was the ser- 

 geant in fact, the camp was 

 awake ! A few words, however, 

 soon explained things, and we 

 all three walked over to where 

 my game lay. He was not dead, 

 while his immense eyes seemed 

 to look defiantly at me. I took 

 one of his horns in each hand 

 with the view of moving him, so 

 I could put him out of pain with 

 my hunting-knife, when, to my 

 surprise, he sprang to his feet, 

 and with a twist of his powerful 

 neck sent me flying head over 

 heels. Then he stood and looked 

 us over, but soon began to quiver 

 at the knees, his body swayed, 

 the white areas were raised on 

 his rump, and in another moment 

 he pitched over dead. I killed 

 six more antelope that day, all 



"single stalks ;" the sergeant kill- 

 ed several more ; but Brown said 

 I had given him such a shock at 

 daylight that he could not hit 

 anything. 



The cutaneous glands mention- 

 ed earlier in the present article 

 are found in both buck and doe, 

 and are, at all seasons, responsi- 

 ble for the indescribable and 

 pungent odor which emanates 

 from these animals. 1 am un- 

 able to state what the exact use 

 of the glands and their secre- 

 tions may be, but it would seem 

 that the odor might be useful in 

 one way: to protect the animals 

 from the swarms of trouble- 

 some insects, such as gnats, mos- 

 quitoes, and flies. Its short tail 

 is useless for such purposes, 

 and these pests are truly fright- 

 ful on the plains sometimes. I 

 have yet to see an antelope an- 

 noyed by them, while I have 

 seen horses driven nearly dis- 

 tracted. The secretion does not 

 affect or taint the animal, however, and antelope meat 

 seems to be highly relished by everyone who has ever 

 partaken of it. 



In their feeding, prong-horns seem to confine them- 

 selves to the various grasses growing on the prairies, and 

 never eat leaves or any kind of fruit. They are fond 

 of "soda licks," so abundant in most of the regions they 

 inhabit; but they will take common salt in lieu thereof. 

 They make extremely engaging pets, and in reality this 



A BUCK AND DOE 



Figure 9. A very spirited and lifelike picture showing the animals in the foreground alert and watchful 

 while the others are feeding. Courtesy of the United States Cartridge Company. 



