THE PKONG-HOENED ANTELOPE 



117 



When fighting, or alarmed, this white hair is 

 instantly thrown up, and on a fleeing animal it 

 forms a dangerously conspicuous and inviting 

 mark. To my mind, the white rump-patch of 

 the Prong-Horn is one of Nature's errors. It 

 enables a pursuer to mark the animal long after 

 it should really become invisible. 



The Prong-Horned Antelope is next in size to 

 the smaller species of our 

 mountain sheep. It is smaller 

 than the white-tailed deer of 

 the north, but as large as the 

 southern forms. The largest 

 specimen in the Zoological 

 Park herd measures 37J inches 

 high at the shoulders, has a 

 head and body length of 

 47f inches, tail, 3^ inches, 

 and chest circumference of 35 

 inches. Its horns are 12| inches 

 long and 12J inches wide be- 

 tween the tips. The longest 

 horns on record are 17 inches 

 in length, but any that meas- 

 ure 12 inches may fairly be 

 considered large. The female 

 has no horns. 



The colors of this animal 

 are usually two, consisting of 

 a cloak of light yellowish- 

 brown thrown over the back 

 and neck of an otherwise 

 white animal. On the throat the brown is laid 

 on in a curious collar-like pattern, and the adult 

 males usually have a wash of black on their 

 cheeks. The ears are very shapely, and from 

 the neck an erect mane rises from four to five 

 inches in length. The legs are exceedingly 

 trim and delicately formed, and the erect horns 

 and high pose of the head give the animal a very 

 jaunty appearance. 



In running it has three very distinct gaits. 

 When fleeing from danger, it carries its head low, 

 like a running sheep, and gallops by long leaps; 

 when showing off, it holds its head as high as 

 possible, and trots forward with stiff legs, and 

 long strides, hke German soldiers doing the goose- 

 step. Occasionally, it gallops with high head, 

 by stiff-legged leaps, like the mule deer. 



In captivity the Prong-Horn is always affec- 

 tionate, trustful, and very fond of being noticed; 



but the bucks soon become too playful with their 

 sharp horns, and push their human friends about 

 until the play becomes more dangerous than 

 amusing. They readily come at call, and at 

 times become very playful with each other. 

 They cannot live on the rich, green grasses of the 

 country east of the Great Plains, and are very 

 difiScult to keep in captivity. At the New York 



80 



DISTRIBUTION OP THE PRONG-HOENED ANTELOPE IN 1903. 



Zoological Park it has been found that they sur- 

 vive and breed only when kept in a paved corral, 

 and fed on rolled oats, clover hay, and a very 

 limited amount of fresh grass. Those who have 

 attempted to preserve and breed the Prong-Horn 

 in captivity have met with many discourage- 

 ments, and failure has been the result of many 

 experiments that deserved success. At present, 

 our herd seems well established, and on June 2, 

 1903, two fawns were born. 



Owing to the extreme difficulty of maintaining 

 this species in captivity, its total extinction at 

 an early date seems absolutely certain, unless 

 it is fully and permanently protected in a wild 

 state, on its native ranges, for a long period. 

 To-day it exists only in small, isolated bands, 

 widely scattered, in a few localities in Montana, 

 Wyoming, Colorado, Kansas, Texas, New Mex- 

 ico, Nevada, Idaho, Utah, Oregon and Califor- 



