516 



THE CLOVEN-HOOFED ANIMALS. 



two or three months longer, then fall ill of pyaemic 

 sores or inflammations of the limbs and die. Mr. 

 Canfield might have had more favorable results 

 if he had given the wild young creatures a robust, 

 good-natured Goat as a wet nurse, for, as he says 

 himself the milk of the Pronghorns is so rich and 

 sweet, that it can not possibly be substituted by 

 cow's milk. 



The Pronghorn buck, in the case of which Can- 

 field observed the shedding of the horns, was as 

 pretty and playful as he was bold and restless. He 

 always ranged in sight of the house while grazing 

 in the daytime and slept near by at night. He was 

 fond of hunting with the Hounds, however, and as 

 none of them could equal him in speed he always 

 took the lead of the pack, when they tracked a 

 Coyote by night. He liked to go hunting with his 

 master, and if he happened to lose sight of Mr. 

 Canfield or of the Dogs, he straightway betook him- 

 self home, once doing so from a distance of twelve 

 miles. He would often join his wild kin, when they 

 crossed the valley or came to drink, but he always 

 left them and came back home. He willingly let 

 people scratch his head or play with his horns, but 

 would let nobody touch any other part of his body. 

 Unfortunately he received a kick from a Mule, which 

 broke his leg; he was bandaged and braced and soon 

 recovered, but lost his former agility and shortly 

 after fell a prey to the Wolves. All Pronghorns 

 brought to Europe have experienced ill health, and 

 have succumbed to various diseases. 

 The Pronghorn Diffi- About twenty or twenty-five years 



cult to Capture ago the Pronghorn was not often 

 or Kill. hunted, and as Prince of Wied says, 



"only when no Bison flesh was to be had." At that 

 time the Indians were still the most deadly foe of 

 the animal, but they have since been superseded by 

 the white Man. 



There are, however, few people who habitually 

 engage in the difficult pursuit of this animal, even 

 where the Antelopes are plentiful. The sportsman 

 has to depend on his skill in stealthily approaching 

 the quarry unperceived by it, and he who is familiar 

 with the western prairies, devoid of trees and shrubs, 

 knows what this means. 



The profit of the chase is not slight. The venison 

 of the animal is distasteful to some on account of its 

 strong, repulsive odor; most people, however, find 

 that it has an exceedingly fine gamy flavor, entirely 

 different from that of the European Stag or Roe, 

 and therefore it may justly be ranked among the 

 most excellent dishes of the West. The fat is noted 

 for its hardness and is made into excellent candles; 

 the fur is light and soft but not durable and is used 

 by the Indians in the manufacture of their shirts and 

 by white people in the making of gloves. 



Gbe Deer. 



FIFTH FAJ1ILY: Ckrvid*. 



No other group of the order is so easily distin- 

 guished as the family of the Deer (Cervidce). They 

 are Ruminants with antlers. These words describe 

 them sufficiently; for everything else appears to be 

 of minor consideration when contrasted w.ith this 

 peculiarity. 



The antlers are generally borne only by the males. 

 They are a double, bony, branching development of 

 horns, which is deciduous, that is, cast annually and 



renewed. At the sixth or eighth month of age a 

 bony projection makes itself apparent, attended by 

 an elevation of the outer table of the frontal bone, 

 this projection being retained through life, and the 

 antlers being attached to it. At first they are 

 straight and pointed; later they branch more and 

 more, the branches sprouting from each main shaft 

 and sometimes numbering as many as twelve. 

 Process of Growth Blasius says: "As the age of Deer 



of Deer's Ant- increases, the antlers undergo a great 

 lers. modification. The first and gener- 



ally very striking change that takes place is that in 

 the bony projections at the bases, which expand 

 every year to a greater extent and approach a junc- 

 tion with each other in the middle of the forehead. 

 They seem to appropriate the osseous matter of the 

 head, for other portions of the skull annually dimin- 

 ish in size, as the thickness of the frontal ridge in- 

 creases. The changes in the shape of the antlers 

 and the number of branches are still more striking. 

 The young horns, in the incipient development of 

 which lies the reason for the casting of the old ones, 

 are at first surrounded by a hairy integument, abun- 

 dantly supplied with blood-vessels and glandular, 

 and soft and flexible to the touch. The lower spurs 

 sprout first from the main horn, then the higher ones 

 follow, and after all have attained their ultimate pro- 

 portions the circulation of blood ceases and the ani- 

 mal feels the need of rubbing off the skin or 'velvet' 

 which then begins to peel off of its own accord." 

 The further development of the antlers then pro- 

 ceeds in the following manner: Before the Deer com- 

 pletes its first year, horns (which are the immediate 

 continuation of the bony projections on the frontal 

 ridge) are formed. These may be shed by some 

 species of the family, but they are always replaced 

 in the same manner, while the antlers succeeding 

 these horns and constituting the decoration of the 

 head during the second year, show one or two 

 branches in most of the Deer. In the spring of the 

 third year the same process is repeated; but the 

 new horn contains one more spur than that of the 

 preceding year, and so it goes on until the greatest 

 possible development of the animal has been at- 

 tained. Diseases, or insufficient nutrition, sometimes 

 cause a retrogression, the new horns numbering one 

 or two spurs less than those of the preceding year, 

 and, on the other hand, the formation of the antlers 

 may be accelerated by abundant nourishment and .a 

 quiet manner of life, devoid of trouble or hardship. 

 The antlers are fastened to the bony projections at 

 their bases by articulation, that is, by having smaller 

 or larger projections of the roots of the horns inter- 

 locking and fitting into corresponding depressions on 

 the upper surface of the bony projection, and vice 

 versa. A few days before casting their antlers most 

 Deer show a swelling of the edges of the skin sur- 

 rounding the projections and the roots of the antlers; 

 the animal takes care not to strike its antlers so as to 

 hurt them and thereby proves that it experiences an 

 unusual sensitiveness at this place. 



The casting itself is occasioned either by the 

 weight of the horns themselves or by a slight exter- 

 nal collision. It happens very rarely that both ant- 

 lers are cast simultaneously; there is usually an in- 

 terval ranging from a few minutes to several days, 

 between the casting of the first and second horn. 

 At this period the whole demeanor of the Deer, 

 especially the carriage of the head and the droop- 

 ing of the ears, is expressive if not of pain, yet of 

 an uncomfortable feeling. A few days previously 



