PRONGHORN OF THE PLAINS 187 



sheep. In the Yellowstone and the Wind Cave 

 National Parks are numbers of antelope. Many 

 of these have readjusted themselves to the 

 friendly conditions and have lost most of their 

 nervousness and fear of man. 



They have a bump of curiosity. I paused 

 one afternoon to talk to a homesteader on the 

 prairie. He was fencing, and presently com- 

 menced stretching a line of barbed wire. The 

 penetrating squeaks of the wire reached the 

 ears of several unseen antelope and appealed 

 to their curiosity. They came close, about 

 the distance from third to home plate. 



Well might they have shown concern at 

 barbed wire! It has wrought terrific destruction 

 to the species. 



A generation or so ago it appears to have been 

 easy for the hunter by displaying a red flag 

 or some partly concealed moving object to 

 rouse antelope curiosity and to lure numbers. 

 I have repeatedly seen this trick tried and a 

 few times I have patiently endeavoured with 

 this appeal to bring a flock within range of my 

 double-barrelled field glass, but I didn't succeed. 

 They promptly went over the horizon. They 

 are curious still, but have become wiser. 



I suppose it will never do to reach final con- 

 clusions concerning what an animal will do under 

 new conditions. After a few years of intimate 



