THE LIFE OF MAMMALS 
“All the deer are fond of skulking; the whitetail preéminently so. The 
prongbuck, on the contrary, never endeavors to elude observation. Its 
sole aim is to be able to see its enemies, and it cares nothing whatever about 
its enemies seeing it. Its coloring is very conspicuous, and is rendered 
still more so by its habit of erecting the white hair on its rump. It has a 
very erect carriage, and when it thinks itself in danger it always endeavors 
to get on some crest or low hill from which it can look all about. The great 
bulging eyes, situated at the base of the horns, scan the horizon far and 
near like twin telescopes. They pick out an object at such a distance that 
it would entirely escape the notice of a deer. When suspicious, they have a 
habit of barking, uttering a sound something like ‘kau,’ and repeating it 
again and again, as they walk up and down, endeavoring to find out if 
danger lurks in the unusual object. They are extremely curious, and in 
the old days it was often possible to lure them toward the hunter by waving 
a red handkerchief to and fro on a stick, or even by lying on one’s back and 
kicking the legs.” 
Yet in summer, when small scattered parties dot the plains 
— or used to — a band would lie down during the midday hours 
Bites in some open valley and rest in negligent ease. More 
ce than once have I ridden quietly over a ridge and 
thrown such a resting band into a momentary pa- 
ralysis. Surprised, yet hardly knowing what to fear, they would 
spring to their feet then, suddenly panic-stricken, start off in 
high, stiff ‘“buck jumps,” making no progress, and the picture 
of wild terror. An instant later, however, gathering its facul- 
ties, the band would skim away in flight, then, if not followed, 
halt a few hundred yards off to look back. This curiosity is a 
strong trait, and often brings antelopes close to camp, or into 
a band of horses or mules; and their liability to panic leads 
them now and then to run right into danger. Audubon pic- 
, tures their contradictory behavior excellently in that long ac- 
count of the animal as he saw it on the upper Missouri in 1843, 
which so enriches his great work on American quadrupeds. 
This disposition is a mark of the high intelligence of the 
animal, whose wits have been sharpened by generations of life 
in the midst of danger. Judge Caton came to have a very 
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