STATUS OF THE PKOjSTGHOKNED ANTELOPE, 1922-1924 19 



by Smith Riley, in charge of reservations, Bureau of Biological Survey, and 

 found the boys had 7 antelope fawns in one of the rooms of the house. They 

 were awkward-looking things, all legs and ears. 



LOCATING) AND CAPTURING FAWNS 



Our method of capturing the fawns was to ride out on the range early in 

 the morning, keeping ourselves from view and using powerful field glasses in 

 looking at the scattered antelope until we discovered a female that showed 

 she had dropped her fawns. Then it was a matter of keeping her in view 

 until she went to feed her young, which she had hidden out, generally one in 

 a place, possibly 75 to 100 yards apart [PI. II, fig. 1.] Along about 8.30 to 10 

 in the morning she would go to water, then gradually feed back toward her 

 fawns, never looking toward them but feeding as unconcernedly as if she were 

 merely getting her morning's breakfast. Suddenly you would see a little 

 speck raise up and the mother squat so that it could nurse. She would 

 allow it to suckle a few minutes and then go on, the fawn following her until 

 she picked up the twin. Then the same process would be repeated. The 

 mother then would feed about possibly 20 minutes or a half hour, accompanied 

 by the fawns, when one of them would drop down and she would lead the 

 other about 75 to 100 yards and leave it also lying down. One particular doe 

 that I was watching stopped suddenly and one of the fawns started running 

 at right angles from the direction the mother was going, and when about 50 

 yards away dropped down as if it had been shot. The mother fed gradually 

 on, leaving it there. 



After the mother had left the immediate neighborhood of the hidden fawns 

 we took particular care to sight up with objects so we could ride to the 

 fawns. They were generally lying in the sun on the lava rocks with no 

 shade to protect them, their heads stretched out on the ground, ears lying 

 flat on their heads, and very difficult to see. They would allow us to walk 

 up almost beside them before they would make a move. Then they would 

 jump up and develop a wonderful burst of speed for about 30 or 40 yards, 

 when their legs would begin to tangle up and they would fall down. I was 

 successful in capturing two of them one morning, and was in doubt as to 

 which of us was the most exhausted by the race when we both fell at the end. 



As soon as the young were captured they were placed in a grain sack with 

 a hole cut in the side about 4 inches from the bottom, just large enough for 

 the head to be put out. [See PI. II, fig. 2.] One was hung on each side of the 

 saddle horse and thus carried to camp, where they were kept until a sufficient 

 number were caught to warrant a trip to the permanent inclosure at the ranch. 

 (PI. Ill, fig. 1.) 



The mothers are very suspicious and will not go near the fawns if they 

 can see or scent a person ; therefore much caution must be exercised in selecting 

 a hiding place when watching to locate the young. 



FEEDING ON THE BOTTLE 



The next most important thing is food for the young. We found that to 

 begin with, the best ration was rich cow's milk, about hvo-third.s of a pint 

 at a feeding, heated to a little more than the body temperature and fed 

 from a hot lie through a nipple known as a lamb's nipple. Great care must 

 be exercised noi t<> overfeed. As the fawns all look alike, when you get a 

 lot of them together it is- necessary as soon as each one is fed to separate it 

 From the others. Overfeeding will probably cause scours, which are difficult 

 io handle. 



In l he raising of our 40 ki'ls we had only one thai developed a real case 

 "I scour . While '..<• brought it through by a liberal dose of lime water and 



